


you pull me to see the stars

by shibecafe



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: 3racha and jeongin and felix are paladins, Alternate Universe - Space, Alternate Universe - Voltron Fusion, M/M, Prince!Hyunjin, YES THE AGES ARE MESSED UP please dont mention it, btw you dont need ANY prior voltron knowledge to read this!, more tags to be added as I go along, some violence will be described but nothing too graphic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-21
Updated: 2019-04-26
Packaged: 2019-10-13 19:17:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 22,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17493716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shibecafe/pseuds/shibecafe
Summary: Jeongin sighs. “Fine. The world as you know it is about to change. The Kerberos Mission wasn't lost because of some malfunction or crew mistake.” A pause. “So, I've been scanning the system and picking up alien radio chatter.”That catches both his and Jisung’s attention. Felix says, “Aliens?” At the same time that Jisung mutters, “Okay. So, you're insane. Got it.”Disdain mars Jeongin’s features. “I'm serious. They keep repeating one word, Voltron. And tonight, it's going crazier than I have ever heard it.”





	1. Part One; Or, Felix Suffers

**Author's Note:**

> hello!!! preface: you honestly don’t need any prior voltron knowledge - it’d help, but everything is explained! enjoy <3
> 
> title taken from n.flying's rooftop!

“You can  _ not  _ be serious, Jisung.” Felix stares at Jisung’s smiling face, lit by the dim lights of their dorm. Jisung, dressed in his usual casual clothes as opposed to the Garrison regulated uniform  _ or  _ his pajamas, is paused at the closet, holding out Felix’s civilian clothing. “I am  _ not  _ helping you sneak out of the Garrison. You’re already on probation from the last time you left, and I don’t wanna get in trouble with administration like Jeongin did when he helped you.”

Jisung rolls his eyes. “We’re not leaving Garrison campus, Felix.” Felix continues to stare, perplexed. “Seriously! We’re following Jeongin. He keeps sneaking out to the roof at night with his backpack, and I want- no, I  _ need  _ to know what he’s planning! So come on, put these on and we’ll go hunt him down.” He shoves the clothes in Felix’s direction a few times, smile still on his face.

Felix’s resolve crumbles after Jisung begins wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. He snatches the clothes from Jisung and stalks to the bathroom. “Is this because we failed the simulator? Is this your revenge for that? Because that was  _ not  _ my fault. This is such a bad idea. Why are you potentially ruining my future, Han Jisung? I didn’t come here from Australia for this kind of shit.” He scrambles out of the bathroom, heart pounding a million miles a moment. 

Han Jisung may be his best friend, but Felix doesn’t trust him at all in these kinds of situations.

With an infuriatingly charming grin, Jisung pulls him out of the room. The two of them duck out of the dorm and into the brightly lit hallway, and some kind of feeling starts bubbling in Felix’s stomach. Other students in their orange-and-grey uniforms stand around, the hum of conversation filling the hall, making Felix’s stomach finally drop. He clings to the hem of Jisung’s shirt as they duck around walls and make their way towards the instructor’s common room. Student's chatter fades away the further the pair get from the dorms, only to give way to the artificial buzz of the fluorescent lights lining the way towards the exit.

“This is such a bad idea.” Felix hisses at Jisung. Jisung glances back quickly before tugging Felix to the ground under the instructor’s lounge window. They begin to crawl slowly under the window, Felix with his eyes screwed shut and Jisung with a smug smile on his face. Dread begins to curl in Felix’s stomach the closer they get to the rooftop.

When Jisung pushes the emergency rooftop door open, bright moonlight pours into the entrance, casting a pale glow over the two Garrison trainees. Felix peaks over Jisung’s shoulder, trying to catch a glimpse of Jeongin. Jeongin sits near the edge with what is definitely-not-Garrison-tech spread around him and a notepad in hand. The glow of the tech casts a sickly glow on Jeongin’s face, making his cheeks look gaunt and his eyes sunken. The two intruders- if they could be called that- make their way to where their friend sits.

With a smirk on his stupid face, Jisung lifts one of Jeongin’s headphones and whispers in his ear. “You come up here to rock out?”

If Felix wasn’t preoccupied with staring at Jeongin’s tech, he would have been laughing over how shocked and startled Jeongin looks beside him. “Ah, Jisung, Felix. No. I’m just...watching the stars.” He’s much nicer than he would have been any other time, which should be a red flag for Felix, but he’s too preoccupied with the tech spread in front of him.

“Hey, Jeongin, this isn’t Garrison tech… Where’d you get it?” Felix nudges the guy beside him.

Jeongin shakes his head, bangs flicking into his eyes. “I built it all.”

“You built...all of this?” Felix reaches out to touch one of the monitors.

He slaps Felix’s hand away. “Yes. Don’t touch it, I know you probably have greasy hands.” Suitably chastised, Felix moves his hands away. (They aren’t greasy. He washed them before Jisung dragged him out of their dorm.)

“What  _ is  _ all this stuff?” Jisung butts in.

Jeongin bites his lip, contemplative, before sighing. “With this I can scan all the way to the edge of the solar system.” He begins to pack everything into his bag, venture foiled as long as Jisung keeps bugging him. Felix feels sympathetic. More than a few of his plans have been ruined by Jisung’s incessant bothering. He often wonders who’s the real class ace out of the two of them. 

Jisung hums. “Edge of the solar system, huh? All the way to Kerberos?” Felix watches Jeongin’s expression shutter before settling on a scowl. “What’s up with you and that mission? You go crazy whenever the instructors even mention it.”

He’s not wrong. Felix recalls the last time their unit coordinator mentioned the mission from a year ago. They’d just been in the flight simulator, and fucked it up. Again. For the third time. As they stepped out, the CO had begun to lecture them.

“Your lack of good communication and efficient teamwork caused you to fail. This is what caused the Kerberos mission failure! Back in line, cadets.” Jeongin had tensed up before yelling something along the lines of,  _ That’s not true! _ , before Jisung and Felix had both grabbed him and apologised to the CO, sighting hitting his head in the simulator as a reason for his insubordination. Jeongin had wriggled out of their grip with a frown on his face before walking stiffly back into line.

If anything, Jeongin’s reactions should have tipped something off in Felix’s mind in the past.

“Look, man, if we’re gonna be a team, we need to have no secrets. So, spill,” Jisung continues to needle Jeongin. The more they talk, the more dread seeps into Felix’s bones. Nothing good is going to come out of this venture to the rooftop, he can tell. A strong gust of wind makes the remaining tech around them shudder, and a shiver runs through Felix’s body. Discomfort makes him shift uneasily.

Jeongin sighs. “Fine. The world as you know it is about to change. The Kerberos Mission wasn't lost because of some malfunction or crew mistake.” A pause. “So, I've been scanning the system and picking up alien radio chatter.”

That catches both his and Jisung’s attention. Felix says, “Aliens?” At the same time that Jisung mutters, “Okay. So, you're insane. Got it.”

Disdain mars Jeongin’s features. “I'm serious. They keep repeating one word,  _ Voltron _ . And tonight, it's going crazier than I have ever heard it.”

“How crazy?”

The loudspeaker crackles behind the trio. “Attention, students. This is not a drill. We are on lockdown! Security situation Zulu Niner. Repeat: all students are to remain in barracks until further notice.” The three of them snap to attention. Felix scrambles to his feet, hands shaking and eyes flitting around. 

His eyes look to the sky, catching on something falling rapidly toward the ground. “Is that a meteor? A really huge, giant, mega meteor?”

Time seems to stop. Felix sees Jisung gulp and harden his resolve. “It’s a fucking ship. And it is not one of ours.” 

“We have to see that ship.” Jeongin jerks his head toward the door and tightens the straps of his backpack. “Before they lock everything down, we have to go and find out what’s in that ship. It obviously has something to do with Voltron.” He snatches Jisung and Felix’s hands, pulling them down the stairs and toward possible aliens.

***

The desert is not the most ideal place to be a night. While ridiculously hot and gross during the day, night time brings the cruel chill of the moon. To be wearing only a thin jacket with a t-shirt and jeans is the worst thing Felix could have been cursed with on a night like this. As well as wearing thin clothes, he’s running after Jeongin and Jisung on a wild ship chase. This is one of the worst nights he’s had since exam season.

The three of them rush over dunes and dry plateaus towards where they saw the ship heading, only to find Garrison officials and guards already swarming the place, leaving no way to enter the area undetected. Jisung curses, but Jeongin looks grimly motivated. They stare down at the valley for a few minutes.

With a deep sigh, Jisung opens his stupid mouth. “We need a distraction.”

“Hey, hey, hey, you idiots,” Jeongin bats at the two to get their attention. “They’re running a security feed, and I managed to hook into it. Look,” The three huddle around Jeongin’s computer. Felix wonders how he got it out so quickly. The room it shows is large-ish, with a metal table in the centre, and four Garrison employees in hazmat suits and Commander Iverson surround it. On the table, someone is strapped down, but struggling.

Static crackles before the audio feed kicks in. “Mr. Bang, we need you to calm down while we run some tests!” Iverson commands.

The person continues to wriggle, pulling at the restraints with renewed fervour. “You  _ have  _ to listen to me! There are aliens,” he grunts. “They destroy worlds, and they’re coming  _ here _ .”

Jisung gasps. “That’s Bang Chan, the pilot of the Kerberos mission. He’s, like, a legend.”

The name certainly strikes a chord in all of them. Chan had helped Felix out when he first joined the Garrison, showing him around and answering any question thrown at him. Jeongin’s face is drained of all colour.

“Where’s the rest of the crew?” Jisung whispers.

Audio picks up again. “Do you know how long you were gone, Mr. Bang?” Iverson’s grating voice is surely the last thing Chan must want to hear, Felix thinks, wincing at the harshness Iverson employs. 

The struggling slows down, and Bang Chan makes a frustrated sound. “I don’t know? Months, years, maybe?” He huffs. “They’re looking for a weapon. Voltron.” Jeongin gasps, as he seems to be doing a lot tonight. His lungs must hate him. “They’re on their way. We have to stop them by finding Voltron first.”

One of the hazmat people cough awkwardly. “Sir, his arm appears to have been replaced by some sort of...foreign prosthetic.”

Iverson hums. “Okay, put him under.”

The man in question becomes frantic once more. “No, no, no, no don't put me under! No! There's no time! Let me go!”

Jeongin’s eyes widen. “They… They really didn't ask about the rest of the crew?” He looks like he’s about to cry, and while Felix is confused as to why, he puts a hand on Jeongin’s shoulder and squeezes lightly. 

“What are they doing? The guy’s a legend, they're not even gonna listen to him?” Jisung’s voice is hard. Felix has seen him determined, but never this grim. It’s...vaguely terrifying.

With a sniffle, Jeongin speaks up again. “We have to get him out.”

Felix blinks dumbly at the other two. “Not to be the voice of reason here, but weren't we hacked into the feed because there was no way to get past the guards? Can’t we just go back to the dorms, please, guys?”

Jisung scoffs. “That was before we were motivated, Lee Felix. We can’t leave Chan here. We've just got to _ think _ . Could we tunnel in?” Felix doesn’t know why Jisung is so determined to rescue this guy he’s never even really met before. He understands wanting to help, but is puzzled by how invested Jisung seems to be.

“Maybe we could get some hazmat suits and sneak in like med techs?” Jeongin pitches in.

“Hmm...No. What we need is a distraction, as I said earlier.” Jisung paces. Sand kicks up as he spins around.

Out of nowhere, there’s loud bang, something like an explosion. Felix jumps and smashes into Jisung. “Oh, my God, are those aliens? Did they get here that fast? How is that possible? This is such a bad idea. I really hate you guys for bringing me here.” He scrambles behind Jisung helplessly, eyes squeezed shut and hands reaching to clutch onto Jisung’s shirt like he had when they were sneaking out.

“No, those explosions were a distraction, for him. The Garrison's headed toward the blast, and he's sneaking in from the other side.” Felix peaks over Jisung’s shoulder and follows where Jeongin is pointing. He sees a guy, clad in an obnoxious leather jacket and kind of uncoordinated judging by the way he trips on the sand, rushing over the dunes towards the Garrison outpost. He just slips in, unnoticed by anyone except the three other intruders.

“No way! Oh, he is not going to beat us in there! That guy is always trying to one-up me!” With an outraged cry, Jisung springs up from his spot in front of Felix and starts making his way down the sandy slope, towards the Garrison outpost. 

“Who is it?”

“Seo Changbin!”

Felix says, “Are you sure?” At the same as Jeongin says, “Who?”

Without replying, Jisung continues to slide down the hill. The two remaining share a look, before beginning to follow him with trepidation.

The hastily put-together Garrison outpost is almost completely deserted when the trio enter, save for some unconscious guards leading them towards where Chan must obviously be kept. None of them appear injured, much to Felix’s relief, just stunned, with darts sticking out from their necks. An answer to how this Changbin guy knocked all these people out. Jisung stomps down the narrow hallway, eyes firmly forward and staring into the open door at the end, clearly still hellbent on...one-upping Changbin, or something. Felix really doesn’t see the point of one-upping, not when an alien invasion is apparently going to happen and when their previously missing senior has just appeared. He doesn’t dwell on the thought of alien invasions. 

Jeongin groans as he looks into the end room. Understandably, Felix thinks, because they can see Jisung staring- or, glaring- at Changbin. Felix thinks it would be scary if not for the fact that he’s so familiar with Jisung. “No, no, no, no. Nope, you don’t. You do not get to save Chan. Not on my watch!” Jisung shakes his fist towards Changbin.

With a sigh, Felix speaks. “Jisung, you aren’t wearing a watch. You don’t even own one.” 

Jisung shoots him a look. Changbin looks kind of super annoyed. “I’m sorry, who are you?” 

“Who  _ am  _ I?” A slightly-offended huff escapes Jisung. “The name’s Han Jisung. We were in the same classes in the Garrison.” He puffs out his chest. It does nothing but make him look like a kid trying to intimidate an adult.

“Uh, were you...an engineer?” Changbin poses. His face is really,  _ really  _ triangular. It’s vaguely distracting.

With an enraged groan, Jisung points at Changbin aggressively. “No! I’m a pilot! And we were rivals! Like, Jisung and Changbin, neck and neck, always vying to be better!” 

Realisation seems to dawn on Changbin. “Oh, I remember you now! You were the  _ cargo _ pilot.” His grin is razor sharp.

Jisung groans. “Well, now I’m fighter class, thanks to you washing out.” 

Feet start thundering outside the outpost. Felix panics. “Uh, guys? There’s people coming and they do not sound happy. I think it’s time to go! Changbin, can we catch a ride with you?” 

Jisung slings Chan’s other arm over his shoulder and starts dragging him and Changbin towards the exit. Jeongin and Felix really have no option but to run after them. 

It only takes a minute or two for the group of five to get out of the building and to Changbin’s vehicle. Which… decidedly will not fit all five of them safely. Jeongin sees Felix’s hesitance and tugs him along insistently. “It’s do or die, Felix.” That gets him moving. He’s too young to die. He’s only a second year Garrison student, he hasn’t even kissed a boy yet. Not that he cares all that much about kissing people, but he wants to do it at  _ some  _ point, and if he dies, then who will kiss him? God? He doesn’t want that. So he does what everyone else does and hops onto Changbin’s… motorcycle. Fuck. 

“Hold on tight.” Changbin’s voice echoes in Felix’s head. He holds on tight. 

***

If Felix had to describe the feeling of hooning across the desert at high speeds with 4 other people on one small vehicle while one of them in passed out, he would use words like  _ terrifying  _ and  _ traumatic _ , among other negative words. It’s certainly not something he’d ever do again willingly. 

And the fact that Changbin lives out in the desert? Right in the middle of absolutely nowhere? That doesn’t help Felix’s bad mood at all. Changbin’s...house (and that’s a generous title) isn’t terrible or disgusting, but Felix reckons he’d only give it a 2 star Yelp review, purely based on the size of the place and it’s unlucky location. 

The space is well occupied inside the house, though, with a long table spanning the back wall. The wall is covered in some kind of sheet, which makes Felix suspicious, but he ignores it in favour of looking at more of the place. In the center of the room, there’s a very beaten up coffee table in front of a battered couch. Felix is baffled by the need for  _ two  _ tables in one room. Boxes are scattered along the western wall, along with bits of paper and other miscellaneous items, and on the other side of the room there’s a doorway that must lead to the rest of the house. 

All in all, it’s not all that bad by any means, even if it is tiny and beaten up and in the desert. One thing that makes it all better, in some kind of way, is that Chan is awake. After waiting for what felt like days but was probably only around 3 hours, Chan had come around, and Changbin had dragged him outside. Which leads to Felix being stuck inside Changbin’s house with his squabbling friends. Perfect. 

His only saving grace is that he went through Jeongin’s bag and found some notebooks and snacks, and did some stupid math. 

“We need to talk to Jeongin and find out what happened to the rest of the crew!” Jeongin’s usually soft and reasonable voice is more than a little bit forceful. It’s not unheard of, Jeongin is responsible and he is firm in what he wants, but he’s never so… desperate. At least, he’s never been so desperate in the year or so that he’s been part of Felix’s life. It’s kind of jarring. 

“Jeongin, come on, chill out. I know you really want to know what happened to the scientists from the Kerberos mission. But isn’t this apparently impending doom because of aliens more important?” It’s obviously a day for new things. Or a day for role reversal. Jisung is usually the reckless one, while Jeongin is usually the more reasonable one. Felix thinks he misses the norm. 

Felix begins to tune out of the conversation. He wasn’t really part of it to begin with anyway, what with Jeongin and Jisung ignoring him in favour of bickering like idiots, but he starts to ignore them in turn. His eyes travel to the window. He can see Changbin and Chan talking in front of the house, and he begins to wonder what actually happened. The past 12 hours feel like some kind of fever dream, something that could only be manufactured by someone absolutely out of touch with reality. 

Surely he’s not really in the middle of the desert with his best friends and two strangers, awaiting the arrival of aliens. Surely it’s just a fucked up dream that he’ll forget about after he wakes up.

“-Lix. Felix!” Jeongin is waving his hands in Felix’s face. Felix looks up, startled. 

He blinks. “Jeongin?” 

“Changbin has something he wants us to see. You need to be awake for this.” 

“Hey! I was awake…” He frowns. 

Jeongin scoffs. “I know you were, and you know what I mean.” 

“Now that we’re all here and paying attention, look at this.” Changbin moves over to the far wall, the one covered with a sheet, and takes the sheet down. The wall is covered by a large cork board, upon which pieces of paper are pinned. Maps and graphs are linked together with strings, and there’s annotations on everything. Pictures, sketches, sticky notes. Anything that a person investigating something could possibly need. Very little makes sense to Felix, but maybe that’s because he’s still half spaced out. 

“What exactly are we looking at?” Chan is the one speaking. Felix’s never heard his voice before, other than when Jeongin had gotten into the audio stream, and it sounds different in person. Unsurprisingly. 

“I can't explain it, really. After getting kicked out of the Garrison, I was kind of lost and found myself drawn out to this place. It's like something... some energy, was telling me to search.” Changbin is half-glaring at his work. 

Chan hums. “Search for what?”

“Well, I didn't really know at the time... until I stumbled across this area. It's an outcropping of giant boulders with caves covered in these ancient markings. Each tells a slightly different story about a blue lion, but they all share clues leading to some event, some arrival happening last night. Then you showed up.” A troubled look passes over Chan’s face before it quickly vanishes. He nods, before turning away from Changbin and his wall of mystery to face the other three.

“I guess I should thank you all for saving me.” His eyes meet Jisung’s. “Jisung, right?” 

Jeongin steps in. “The spaced out guy’s Felix, I’m Jeongin. Did any of your crew make it out?” His head is tilted just so.

“I'm not sure. I remember the mission and being captured. After that, it's just bits and pieces.” Chan’s troubled look is back in full force. Felix thinks it makes him look a lot older than he should. He’s reminded of something else that’s troubling.

“Yeah, sorry to interrupt, but back to the aliens. Where are they now? Are they coming? Are they coming for us? Like - where are they at this very moment?” The other four people in the room turn to him. Jeongin looks exasperated, as expected, while Changbin and Jisung seem surprised that Felix even said anything at all.   
  
Chan starts to speak. “I can't really put it together. I remember the word  _ Voltron _ . It's some kind of weapon they're looking for, but I don't know why. Whatever it is, I think we need to find it before they do.” 

“Well, last night, I was rummaging through Jeongin's stuff, and I found this picture. Look, it's his boyfriend.” Felix pulls out the photo he’d found in Jeongin’s backpack. It’s of Jeongin, obviously, but he’s standing next to an exceptionally pretty guy. 

“Hey, give me that! What were you doing in my stuff?” He snatches back the notebook that Felix is holding up.

“I - well, I was looking for a snack. But, then, I started reading his alien diary.” Jeongin makes an affronted sound. “And I noticed the repeating series of numbers the aliens are searching for looks a lot like a Fraunhofer line.”

“Frown who?” Changbin mumbles. Jisung nods.

With a little bit of pride at knowing something the others don’t, he smiles and explains. “It's a number describing the emission spectrum of an element, only, this element doesn't exist on Earth. I thought it might be this Voltron. And I think can build a machine to look for it, like a Voltron Geiger counter.” 

Jisung’s eyes widen significantly. “Felix, you are a genius.” He puts a hand on Felix’s shoulder, warm and familiar. 

“It’s pretty interesting. The wave length looks like this,” He pulls out the linework he did quickly after rummaging through Jeongin’s stuff, turning the paper to show the others. It’s a bit crumpled from being in his pocket for a few hours, but it’s still legible. Luckily. 

Changbin’s eye widen. “I need that!” He takes it from Felix quickly before holding it up to one of the pictures of the canyons on his cork board. 

Jeongin looks surprised, Jisung’s head is tilted, Chan’s face is unreadable and Changbin looks ecstatic. Felix looks closely. 

The line looks exactly like the canyons. 

***

After a steady three or four hours of digging through Changbin and Jeongin’s tech pieces, Felix manages to throw together a passable Voltron Geiger counter, for lack of a better name. In any other circumstance the device would not pass any kind of regulation test at all, but given the fact that regulations don’t matter in the middle of the fucking desert, Felix disregards it. 

“How is it, Felix?” Chan is leaning against the doorframe, with his arms crossed over his chest. His prosthetic arm shines in the morning light, making him look like some kind of character from an anime.

Felix scratches his neck. “It’s… good, I guess? I finished making it, now we just need to… I don’t know. We need to go out and use it?” 

With a smile, Chan uncrosses his arms and walks over to the table that Felix has scattered all sorts of materials across. “You’ve done well with making this on such short notice. Good job.” The warm praise feels nice.

Felix coughs. “Thanks, Chan.” 

“Well, if that's the case, I’ll go and tell the others that we’re ready to go. If that’s alright with you?” Chan raises an eyebrow. After a quick nod from Felix, he leaves the workroom. Felix is left alone. Again. He’s spent more time alone in the past 24 hours than he has in two years. 

It takes less than two minutes for the other four guys to come into the room that Felix holed himself up in. He sees Jeongin look at where the Voltron Geiger counter sits on the table in surprise. Felix doesn’t know why Jeongin is surprised. He  _ is  _ an engineer for a reason. 

“Let’s go, let’s go,” Jisung is buzzing with energy, somehow, despite the minimal sleep he’s gotten and the amount of energy expended over the past 24 hours. How he does it, Felix doesn’t know. Chan ushers the lot of them out with Changbin leading them. 

An hour of traveling through scorching hot desert passes slowly. The time is full of Jisung whining about the heat, and Jeongin pinching his side in annoyance. Changbin and Chan trail back, talking quietly with each other, while Felix takes the lead, beeping machine in hand. It takes a lot of backtracking and muttering for them to find the canyon that matches the Fraunhofer line, but they finally get there. 

Unsurprisingly, Jisung is the first to say anything. “Okay, alright. This is super freaky.” 

The device in Felix’s hand starts beeping more insistently, and he steps forward. “Uh, I’m getting a stronger reading?”

Changbin snorts goodnaturedly. “You don’t sound so sure, Felix.” 

He ignores them in favour of jogging forward, following the directions that his tech points him towards. Sand and dust kick up around him, getting into his eyes and hair, but he pushes on until the device in his hands goes totally silent. 

“Is that a bad thing? That it stopped beeping? Felix?” Jisung peeks around his shoulder to look at it. 

“There’s a cave right there, I think we’re in the right place.” Jeongin points out. Felix nods. 

Changbin has already started jogging down the slight incline, Chan in tow, so the remaining three follow them down. Felix stumbles on a rock and lands flat on his ass, much to his own dismay and Jisung’s amusement. Someone's hands help him up before tugging on his arm, towards the cave of mystery. A mix of anticipation and dread starts to settle on the group as they carefully make their way into the mouth of the cave. 

The walls are absolutely covered in carvings, of lions and people and other things Felix can’t place. Everyone but Changbin seems in awe. Felix watches Jisung walk towards one of the cave walls, hand out, poised to wipe the dirt away. It’s not something Felix would do, not at all, but he watches anyway, waiting for something bad to happen. He can hear the other three chattering behind him, but ignores them. 

“Holy shit!” Jisung jumps away from the wall. The carvings are suddenly shining, a fluorescent blue that burns Felix’s eyes. 

“They’ve never done this before!” Changbin’s voice is drowned out by the sound of the rocks beneath their feet crumbling. All five of them get thrown down, sliding down some kind of rock formation that sat under what was previously the cave floor. Water rushes down the rock, soaking them all to the bone as they hurtle towards… probably their deaths. Or, grievous bodily harm. Felix supposes they’re pretty much the same thing under these circumstances. 

The slide - tunnel? - ends, and they’re spat out into a pool of water deep enough to not end in death but shallow enough to cause some pain. You win some and you lose some, Felix thinks solemnly. He lays in the water for a moment, dazed, before moving towards the edge of the water. The sand at the edge of the water is pale, almost white, with an iridescent sheen that definitely isn’t like normal sand and sediment that one would find anywhere else. Probably. Felix hasn’t seen enough sand to be able to tell, despite living in the desert for the past 2 years. 

As he finally looks up from the ground, he hears Jisung’s deep intake of breath, which is quickly followed by a gasp of his own. In front of them there’s a giant mechanical lion. A bright blue, mecha lion. With a matching blue forcefield. Of course. 

“Is this… the Voltron?” Jeongin’s eyes are blown wide. 

“It must be,” Chan’s voice is soft, almost too soft to hear, and is almost covered by Changbin saying, “So this is what’s been causing all the crazy energy out here.”

“Uh. How do we get through the forcefield?” Felix’s question goes ignored as the group of them walk forwards. He sighs.

With an uneasy look on his face, Jisung starts zigzagging as he walks. “Do any of you get the feeling that its eyes are following you?” He’s met with a chorus of  _ no _ ’s from everyone. “Weird. Its eyes are totally following me…”

They cross the last few feet to the lion. It looms high, so high that Felix really has to crane his neck to see it from so close. Changbin doesn’t hesitate to start touching the forcefield, fingers skimming the hard surface. “I wonder how we can get through this…” 

Jisung has the look on his face that means he’s come up with a dumb idea. “Why don’t we try knocking?” His grin is cheeky but his voice is serious. Without waiting for the others to make comments, Jisung walks up to the lion and raises his fist. He hits the forcefield three times in quick succession, and Felix expects nothing to happen. 

Much to everyone’s chagrin and Jisung’s delight, the field disappears instantly. Jisung hoots in excitement before dashing closer to the lion, only to stop abruptly as the ground shakes. 

A bright white light almost blinds Felix. He feels like he’s been thrown back into the water but he can’t surface, his chest feels tight and his body doesn’t feel like it’s  _ his _ . Something starts to block his vision. Or, comes into his line of sight. A line of five coloured lions, just like the blue one they’ve found in the cave, are in the sky, hurtling towards each other. They begin to shift, before coming together like tetris blocks to become… a humanoid robot. Of some sort. 

The tight feeling in Felix’s chest returns before he’s spat back into reality, breathing hard, to find his friends in the same situation. 

“Voltron’s a  _ robot _ .” It’s Jeongin speaking. 

“Where’s the rest of it?” Changbin. 

“What the  _ fuck _ .” Jisung. 

“We need to find the rest of these lions.” Chan. 

Felix stays silent, too shaken by the turn of events. 

A sudden mechanical whirring fills the cavern, and the blue lion is moving it’s head down to the group. Jeongin and Felix scream loudly at the same time. Its mouth opens, and a ramp makes its way to the ground. The group stands there, staring into the lion’s mouth. Fluorescent blue lights like the light that glowed from the carvings line a corridor, and the inside is accented a dark blue like the outside. It’s impressive, to say at the least. 

There’s a very distinctly Jisung chuckle, and Felix watches his best friend run into the lion’s mouth. 

“Oh, my God, Jisung, you’re so stupid.” He huffs, then runs up the ramp after him without making sure everyone else is following. The short corridor leads to a cockpit. Jisung is already sitting in the… pilot’s seat, laughing and staring at the tech that covers the dashboard. Felix shuffles up and leans over the back of the chair. He hears three other sets of footsteps clamber in, and glances back at the others. The space is big enough for all five of them, but it’s slightly cramped when they all crush together to look over Jisung’s shoulders. 

When they all pile together, the display in front of them lights up. Jisung laughs again. “Alright!” 

Felix clears his throat. “I… really, really hate to be the voice of reason. As per usual. But uh, so we’re all clear… we’re in some kind of crazy, futuristic cat head alien-thing right now, right?” He looks around, and meets everyone’s eyes. “I-” Felix stops when he sees Jisung tense up. Maybe Jisung doesn't want to hear Felix’s rationalising for once, maybe he’ll finally snap and tell Felix to shut up…

“Woah, did you guys just hear that?” Jisung suddenly comes back. 

Jeongin is the first to reply. “Hear what?” 

“That purring! I think it’s  _ talking  _ to me…” He leans forward in his chair, hand on his chin, and inspects the dashboard. He presses three random buttons labeled in some weird alien language, and the lion shudders. Felix loses his balance, limbs going all over the place and promptly hits his hand on the chair. He scrambles up quickly, rubbing his wrist. The lion roars and Jisung smirks. “Got it! Now, let’s try this…” 

He grabs the control sticks and pushes forward, hard. The lion springs to life, bounding forward at high speed towards the wall of the cavern. 

Felix’s eyes widen. “Jisung!” He squeezes his eyes shut tightly and clings to Changbin for dear life. He braces for impact as the lion bursts through the rock. The four not sitting on the seat get thrown around, and Jisung howls in delight while the rest of them scream. Except Chan. He isn’t screaming. Just… looking very shaken. Felix thinks that’s more than fair. 

The lion spins in the air before hurtling for the ground. At the last second, Jisung smashes some buttons and the lion rights itself. Felix hears Chan’s sharp exhale.

As they hurtle through the sky, Changbin starts yelling. “You… Are the worst pilot… Ever!” It’s followed by more unintelligible yelling. Jisung starts to steer the lion in circles, probably trying to get a feel for the controls, if Felix knows him well enough. Which he does. They’ve been best friends for years. 

Felix doesn’t trust Jisung’s piloting for a second though. Not at all. He’d rather swallow a knife than keep flying with Jisung. He feels sick. 

They touch onto the ground, and the lion starts running. Felix’s stomach feels even shakier. He wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up puking.

Jisung turns to him. “Isn’t this awesome?” 

At least  _ he’s _ having fun, is Felix’s only thought. He thinks he says something like ‘ _ make it stop, make it stop, _ ’ but he isn’t too sure. 

“I’m not making it do anything, it’s like it’s on autopilot!” Okay. Maybe Felix was wrong before, about Jisung getting a feel for the controls. He groans miserably. 

Changbin’s sharp voice cuts through the yelling. “Where the  _ hell  _ are you going, Jisung?” 

“Dude, I  _ just  _ said it’s on autopilot. It’s saying there’s an alien ship approaching earth!” Jisung’s brow furrows harshly. Felix feels even worse than he did before. Jisung continues. “I think we’re supposed to stop it!” 

Chan latches onto Jisung’s arm harshly. “What did it say, exactly, Jisung?” 

Jisung frowns. “It’s not really saying actual words, okay? It’s like it’s… giving me ideas?” 

With an uncertain sound, Felix shakes his head. “If this is the weapon they’re looking for, why don’t we just give it to them? Maybe they’ll just leave us alone then?” 

That makes Chan break his silence. “I don’t think you understand, Felix. These things? They’re like a disease. A plague. They hunt through the galaxy, destroying  _ everything  _ in their path.There’s no trying to cut deals with them. They won’t stop until everyone and everything is dead.” The other three whip their heads to Felix. 

He shrinks under their gazes. “Ah. Nevermind then, I guess.” 

The lion finally breaks atmosphere. Space is calm, quiet, and totally blank save for the far off stars and planets in the distance. There’s a very sudden flash of light before a giant… purple ship appears out of the literal void. Everyone in the cockpit gasps. 

“Holy shit, is that really an alien ship?” Felix asks Chan. 

“They found me…” Chan’s voice is tiny. He looks shaken. His face is pale, making the scar on his nose stand out even more harshly than it had previously. 

The ship starts shooting lasers at them. They’re purple, and they cut way too close to the lion for Felix to be comfortable. Not that he  _ was  _ comfortable before, but now he just feels even worse. It’s definitely not Felix’s week. 

“We’ve gotta get out of here!” Chan is frantic. 

Jisung hits some buttons. “Hang on!” He maneuvers the lion harshly, twisting over and under the lasers. “I think I know what to do.” 

Jeongin is yelling. “Be careful, idiot! This isn’t the simulator!” 

With no humour in his voice Jisung snaps back. “Well, that’s fucking  _ great _ , because I always wreck the simulator.”  He laughs dryly. He pushes down on the control sticks as hard as possible, and a bright blue beam shoots from its mouth. Felix thinks he hears Changbin utter a ‘ _ holy shit, _ ’ but it’s lost in the commotion that fills the cockpit.

The beam cuts through the side of the opposing ship. Jisung smirks. “Let’s try this.” He pulls back and rams into the ship, dragging the lion’s claws across the side. Small explosions follow them. 

“Nice job, Jisung.” Chan’s praise seems to encourage Jisung even more. 

Felix laughs hysterically, but his voice is calmer when he speaks. “Time to get these assholes away from our planet, huh, guys?” Jisung looks at Felix and grins widely before he accelerates, turning away around and moving as quick as he can from Earth. The warship turns slowly, before beginning to speed towards them in their lion. 

“They’re gaining on us, Jisung! Hurry up!” Jeongin is unusually desperate today, and Felix really doesn’t know how to deal with a less than put together Jeongin. 

The pilot looks uncomfortable. “It’s weird. They aren’t shooting anymore, just chasing.”

Felix is sick of it all. “Seriously? We’re now thinking that having aliens  _ chase us  _ is a good thing? I’m not in favour of this new opinion, guys…”

Changbin looks just as annoyed, if not more. “Where  _ are  _ we?” 

“The edge of the solar system. Look, there’s Kerberos.” Chan points out the window. 

Someone yelps. Probably Jeongin. “It takes months for our ships to make it out this far, but it only took us a few seconds? What the hell?” 

The lion rocks slightly. Something begins to swirl in front of them. “What the hell is that?” Felix mutters. 

Jisung groans again. “This might sound crazy, but I’m pretty sure the lion wants us to go through there!” 

“Where does it go?” Jeongin sounds uncertain. Fair. Felix doesn’t trust this wormhole. He doesn’t trust this lion. He’d trust a small lizard more than he trusts this lion.

Jisung glances at him, frowning lightly. “I… don’t know.” He glances back at Chan. “Chan, you’re the senior officer here. What should we do?” 

“The lion knows more than we do, in regards to what’s happening. I think we should trust it. But, we’re a team now. We should make a decision together.” Chan’s eyes are firm, and he looks certain. 

Chan places his hand on Jisung’s shoulder. Felix smiles weakly at him despite it all, because he’d rather go through this untrustworthy wormhole than die at the hands of freaky aliens on a purple ship. Changbin nods. “Alright… Guess we're all ditching class tomorrow.” He grips the control sticks, and pushes. They hit the center of the wormhole, full speed. It sucks them in, and the lion shudders wildly. Weird, white and blue matter floats around them. Felix thinks it’d be cool to get a sample to test on later. Then, they get spat out, and the wormhole collapses. 

Nothing looks familiar when Felix looks out of the windows. Chan is the first to confirm his fears. “I don’t recognise any of these constellations. We must be a long, long way from earth.”

Jisung coughs. “The lions seems to want to go to this planet...I think, I think it’s going home.”

***

It takes a while for the lion to pass through the atmosphere of the new planet. Changbin and Chan are muttering quietly while Jisung and Jeongin argue. Felix just watches as they approach some kind of castle. It’s tall, and white, and too futuristic to be real. He supposes he has no room to judge what’s realistic and what’s not now. Not after the weird two days he’s had. 

The castle suddenly flashes. Well, it’s more like some beacons on the highest points of the castle flash. The lion keeps approaching. It slows down significantly, before touching down in a large courtyard outside the castle entrance. 

“Keep your guard up.” Chan’s voice is fierce, and it makes Felix’s nervous.

“Why? Something the matter?” Jeongin’s head is tilted to the side. 

The eldest of them clears his throat. “No. But my crew has been captured by aliens before, and I refuse to let it happen again.” Tense silence settles over the group as they file down the ramp and into the castle courtyard. As soon as they’re all off, the lion rears back. Felix jumps, and the lion roars loudly.

The ground rumbles and the doors to the castle glow before starting to open. 

No one moves for a moment. Felix steps closer to Jisung, leaning on him lightly. Chan and Jeongin are the first of the group to move forward and look into the open castle. Jisung and Felix follow, with Changbin trailing behind. The foyer- if that’s what it should be called- has a ridiculously high ceiling, so high that it’s shrouded in darkness. Pillars shoot up, and balconies line the walls.

“Hello?” Felix calls. His voice echos and the others stare at him. He shrugs. They keep walking until they hit a circular room, with stairs at the other end. 

Jeongin clears his throat. “From the size of the lion, I expected the steps to be bigger.” 

Blue light surrounds them, and a mechanical voice comes from nowhere. “ _ Hold for identity scan. _ ” Felix completely checks out of reality. He didn’t sign up for this. The blue lights scan their bodies quickly. 

Lights begin to turn on down the hallway, illuminating everything they couldn’t see before. One hallway in particular is brighter than others. “Guess we’re going that way?” Chan makes the first move to go down the hallway. They all start following him. Felix finds his best friend, dread, settling into him once again. As they keep walking down hallways and staircases, more lights turn on to guide their way. They end up in a vast room, with some kind of tech stations sticking out of the ground. The same blue fluorescent lights that were in the lion are in this room. The whole castle is lined with those blue lights, actually, now that Felix thinks about it. 

“I think it’s some kind of control room,” Jeongin says. Some lights on the tech turn on. 

Felix hears air decompressing and whips around to look behind himself. Out of the ground, there’s white mist and some kind of large capsule rising. There’s a vaguely humanoid shape contained within it, so Felix scrambles away, back to where Changbin and Chan stand. Changbin glances at him before looking back to the capsule. Another one rises a few meters away, startling Felix even more. 

One of the glass doors starts to dematerialise from the bottom up. First to be seen are some sick ass white boots, lined with red and gold. Then smart, slightly crumpled black dress pants, followed by a smart crimson jacket with gold and white lining, and finally a handsome face with fluffy white hair and strange red markings on his cheeks. He, for some reason, has pointy ears. For a second, everything is silent, before the person gasps loudly.

His mouth opens, a distressed ‘ _ Mother! _ ’ being said before he crumbles forward, right into Jisung. 

“Woah!” Jisung looks shocked at suddenly having someone in his arms. The person blinks owlishly before looking into Jisung’s eyes. “Hey?” Jisung squints. 

The boy in his arms starts looking around. “Who are you? Where am I?” 

“I’m Han Jisung, and you are in my arms.” Jisung helps the person stand properly.

The mysterious pod person narrows his eyes at Jisung. “Your ears…” He mutters. Jisung tilts his head. “They’re hideous! What’s wrong with them?” The boy moves back, one hand still on Jisung’s shoulder. 

Jisung looks flustered, if that’s even possible. “There’s nothing wrong with my ears! They heard what you said!” The pod boy grabs Jisung by the ear, and flips him around, grabbing his arm with his free hand and slamming Jisung down. 

“Who the hell are you? Where is the Queen? What are you doing in my castle?” His voice is harsh, much too harsh for such a gentle looking face. 

With a whine, Jisung starts talking. “A giant blue lion flew us here. I piloted it! That’s all we know,” He looks close to tears. Felix would be too, if he were being assaulted by some random boy from a pod. Jisung is an ugly crier, he thinks.

Pod boy lets go of Jisung, who starts rubbing his ear. “How do you have the Blue Lion? What happened to its paladin? What are you all doing here?” He looks at the other four of them, eyes wide and full of desperation. His hands look shaky. “Unless… How long has it been?” 

Felix moved from his place next to Chan to stand behind Changbin, and is staring quietly when he answers the guy. “We don’t know what you’re talking about. How about you tell us who you are? We can maybe try to help you.” Felix can see his placating smile from the corner of his eye. Of course, Changbin knows what to say. Of course. He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy to, but Felix is getting used to being surprised.

The guy looks hesitant, but answers anyway. “I am Prince Hyunjin, of Planet Altea. I need to find out where we are and how long we’ve been asleep for.” The boy, Hyunjin, starts walking towards one of the control panels. He places his hands on the dark geometric shapes, making them glow the same fluorescent blue that has been haunting them. Felix is really starting to hate that stupid light. Jeongin stands in front of him, watching what Hyunjin does. As Hyunjin’s hands touch the panel, a holographic screen pops up. 

Chan exhales. “Oh, that’s how it works.” Hyunjin glances at him before looking back. 

The other pod suddenly opens to reveal another man with similar features to Hyunjin. His ears are just as pointy, and he has the weird markings on his cheeks, except his are yellow instead of red. His clothes are similar too, just in blues and yellows instead of red, gold and black. His hair is a glossy blue-black, and he has a defined jaw and big eyes. Felix thinks he’s pretty.

The new guy suddenly jumps from the pod, straight to Jisung, all while yelling. Jisung steps out of his way, causing the new guy to stumble and windmill his arms. “Quiznak, guess I have a case of the  _ sleep chamber knees _ ! You’re lucky, because otherwise I’d hurt you!” He’s pointing at Jisung, who stares at him, unimpressed. “I would have grabbed you by the neck, twisted like so- one, two, three! Time to knock out, intruder!”

Jisung growls. “Well, before you did that, I would have-” He starts kicked, and grunting. Felix feels embarrassed for Jisung. And the new guy. They’re both embarrassing. They start to bicker about who would win in a fight. It’s stupid, and unnecessary, and really not what either of them should be focussing on, Felix thinks. He keeps his opinion to himself.

Hyunjin’s tech starts beeping. He gasps. “This can’t be…”

The new guy runs over. “What is it?”

The Prince turns to his companion, eyes sad. “Woojin… We’ve been asleep for ten thousand years." 


	2. Part Two; Or, Chan Needs Some Help

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [here](https://open.spotify.com/user/hongkensoo/playlist/3dm6PFwSJ5zWBFlfIhShc7?si=QZeq2gbHTV2IM6kEiLUXBg) are some BANGERS i listen to while writing! 
> 
> please enjoy!!
> 
> \- shibecafe

 

Chan watches as Hyunjin taps the holo screen, his fingers moving effortlessly and with the ease of someone who’s used this tech for years. The screens that Hyunjin works on are all in some weirdly angular language. Altean, probably, from what Hyunjin said earlier. It makes Chan wonder how he- and the others- can communicate with Hyunjin and… his advisor? Or friend. Chan isn’t too sure about Woojin’s job, but he resolves to ask about it later, along with how the lot of them can understand each other.

Probably after they’ve come to terms with the fact that they were asleep for 10,000 years. Chan starts to think about what happened when that revelation came about. 

The Prince’s friend hadn’t been out of the cryopod for long before Hyunjin’s tech had started beeping. He gasped, and Chan’s head had snapped up to look at him. With obvious upset, Hyunjin turned to the left and said, “This can’t be…” 

Woojin had run over from where he was arguing with Jisung - the fact that Jisung was already bickering with these people baffled Chan, but he rolls with things easily. “What is it?” 

Hyunjin turned to his companion, eyes sad and lip trembling. “Woojin… We’ve been asleep for ten thousand years. Planet Altea and all the surrounding planets in our solar system have been destroyed, totally obliterated. Mother is gone. Our entire society…” His face suddenly darkened. “Zarkon.” 

That made Jeongin stop talking to Felix. “Zar...Kon?” 

“Yes. He was the King of the Galra. A disgusting excuse of a person, and enemy to all free people!” The pure hate in Hyunjin’s voice made Chan pause. Hyunjin didn’t - doesn’t - seem like the kind of person to hate easily.

“I remember now… I was a prisoner on his warship.” He’d started rubbing the prosthetic arm, uncomfortable with the memories. Sharp weapons, hard punches, loud yelling… Fighting, and screaming, and the cheers in an arena of violence. 

Hyunjin had stared at him for a moment. “He’s still alive? That’s impossible!” 

Everyone else went quiet. “It’s true. I don’t know what else to tell you. He’s searching. For Voltron, a superweapon.” The silence seemed to get even tenser. 

“He’s searching for it because it’s the only thing that can defeat him, and that’s exactly why we need to find it before he does.” The sheer determination in Hyunjin’s statement floored Chan, and he just nodded solemnly. He has an undeniable respect for this boy - this prince that lost his whole family and his whole civilisation. 

Which is how they got to where they are now. Hyunjin and Woojin tapping away at their tech to find the other lions. After a little while, Woojin starts to get Hyunjin to be… more of a person, and less of a goblin searching for the Lions.. “Hyunjin, you need to eat, and slow down. It’s been 10,000 years.”

But every time he’s met with a firm, ‘ _ I’m not hungry _ ,’ from the prince. 

It sets off a string of complaints from Felix about how hungry  _ he  _ is, which makes Jisung complain, which in turn makes Changbin testy. Chan sighs. There’s no winning, not with these kids. 

Chan tries to cut the tension. “Your civilisation really created technology  _ this  _ advanced, 10,000 years ago? I can’t believe it.” He sighs. “It must have been an amazing place.” 

“It was. But now it’s gone.” Woojin wilts. It makes Chan’s heart hurt. “We’re the only Alteans alive, unless there’s more of us hidden down in the other cryopods…”

The suggestion alone makes Hyunjin perk up. “What if there  _ are  _ other Alteans down in the cryopods? Woojin, you’re a genius!” Woojin really doesn’t look thrilled by the idea of searching for more people. 

That makes Chan curious. If he were in the other’s position, he’d be scrambling to go see if there’s more people. Though, he wouldn’t want to get his hopes up, either. Lost in his thoughts, Chan almost misses Hyunjin dashing across the room and out the door. Almost. He just catches a glimpse of the Prince’s coattails as he turns. Chan looks at the others before following Hyunjin quickly. 

Skirting around the consoles in the room proves slightly difficult for Chan, especially when running on very little sleep. Catching up to the runaway prince proves even more difficult given the nature of the situation. The situation being that this castle is like a maze, and that Hyunjin is much, much faster than Chan is. It doesn’t help that Chan has no idea how to navigate this castle, either. 

Chan stops, breathing hard, halfway down the long corridor. Woojin and the others crowd around him, before following Woojin down curving corridors and through much too tall doorways. Clearly, the doors were designed with other tall species in mind. Chan really,  _ really  _ wants to know more about other species that exist.

The hallways seem to go on forever, and it feels like years before they reach the cryo rooms. The sight they’re met with makes Chan’s heart -or stomach, or both- drop to his feet. There’s two cryo pods that are lit up, both with people that vaguely resemble Hyunjin and Woojin resting peacefully inside. Chan expected there to be no more people, so the fact that there’s other cryo-ed Alteans shocks him into silence. Not that he wasn’t silent before. Because he was. He’s just submerged into a slightly more somber silence, if that’s even possible. 

“Are they okay?” Jisung is the first to speak. 

Hyunjin’s head snaps towards Jisung. “Do they  _ look  _ okay?” He sounds tired. Sad. 

Jisung groans uncertainly. “Uh, well, they don’t look too bad? How do you open these things, they’ll probably just emerge like you did and be fine…” He shuffles towards the cryo pods to stand beside the prince. 

The two of them stare at the closest pod. The person inside has a slim and soft face, with curling lips and a gently sloping nose. His ears are kind of big, but they perfectly fit his head, not looking comical but rather cute instead. Fluffy hair sits atop his head, a dark red that’s almost black, and it contrasts against his pale skin, much like the sunshine yellow markings on his cheeks. He’s cute, in a kid-ish kind of way. 

With a quick glance at Woojin, Hyunjin places his hand on the pod, and the covering starts to dissolve, like the others did upstairs. It’s just as disconcerting now as it was earlier. Jisung obviously thinks the same, judging by how he jumps away from the pod and towards where the others stand. The other pod reacts in turn.

Chan half expects the inhabitants to just tip out of the pods like Hyunjin did upstairs, but they don’t. These pods look like they’ve been placed at a strategic angle so that whoever is inside stays inside when the thing is open. 

Groans echo through the room after a couple of seconds of tense silence. Changbin jumps too, Jeongin makes some kind of startled sound, Jisung doesn’t seem bothered at all, and Felix stares in fascination. 

The pod that Chan couldn’t see into is the first to release its inhabitant - a willowy boy with shiny white hair and dark purple markings on his cheeks. He’s blinking owlishly, looking confused and dazed. His eyes are dewy - large and expressive. His nose is kind of pointy, like a pixie. His cheeks are insanely high. 

He steps out quickly too, leaning on the entryway of the pod. He looks either annoyed or distressed, but Chan isn’t too sure which he actually feels.

A look at the grim expressions on Hyunjin and Woojin’s faces seems to tell the two new Alteans all they need to know, because the four of them gravitate towards each other in a tearful hug. Sad, Chan herds his lot of humans back out of the cryo room, back towards where they met Hyunjin and Woojin.

It takes a couple of hours and a lot of explaining interspersed with some yelling and a lot of crying to bring the two new additions to the group up to speed with current events. Felix, Jeongin and Jisung have curled up over on a plush couch, all tangled together, which makes Chan happy. The three of them seem like pretty good kids, and Chan is glad they have each other to lean on during such a turbulent time. Chan was tempted by Felix’s offer to join them on the couch, but ultimately turned it down in favour of learning more about their new companions. 

He doesn’t regret his choice to stay awake. He absorbs the information provided like a sponge. They’re all really kind, despite their confusion and distress over the awful situation. He has a lot of respect for these people. 

But that isn’t the point. The point is that there’s suddenly nine people to be accounted for. Eight people that aren’t Chan, eight people that Chan needs to maintain relationships of some sort with. He’s kind of scared, though he’s loathe to let anyone know that. The whole thing is stressful.

So stressful that Chan gets sucked into his own brain and doesn’t realise that everyone stopped talking as a group and have all started to talk to each other, leading to a pair of people in front of him. He really doesn’t notice until he feels a third person sling an arm around his shoulder and start talking for him. 

“This guy here is Mister Bang Chan, Garrison legend, King of Everything, and resident CO.” It’s unmistakably Jisung, with his vibrating energy and comforting touch. 

Chan sputters, flustered. “I am none of those things, please ignore him.” He turns his eyes to the Alteans. The two of them are tall, though not much taller than Chan, and both sport smiles. Smiling isn’t what Chan would be doing in their situation, so he commends them. 

“I’m Minho, and this is Seungmin, it’s really a pleasure to meet you! Oh, wow, Hyunjin was right, your ears  _ are  _ strange! How good is your hearing? Surely it must be bad, with how little your ears are, oh, Seungmin, do you think their hearing would be worse than ours? That would be terrible!” He just doesn’t stop. It makes Chan’s head spin. Jisung starts to back off slowly before just bolting. Chan blinks.

“Minho, can it, you’re overwhelming him.” Minho frowns at Seungmin’s scolding. With a nod, Seungmin turns to Chan. “He said your name was Mister Bang Chan, right?”

Chan coughs. “Just Chan, is fine.”

“Alright, Just Chan. How old are you?” Seungmin looks genuinely interested. Minho stops frowning when he seems to realise that now is the time for questions. The questions stumps Chan. Would they understand the human concept of time? Hyunjin used years earlier. Surely they would. 

Awkwardly, he answers. “Uh, I’m twenty four. Twenty five in a few months.” 

Another nod. Maybe Seungmin nods a lot. He looks like a baby. 

“Well, I was twenty two when we went into the cryo pods.” Minho’s voice is surprisingly firm, the more he talks. Not in a stern way, but more in the way that he speaks with conviction and confidence. “Seungmin was eighteen.” Minho keeps chattering and Chan just smiles dazedly. He really needs to sleep for a week to get back to functionality. 

He’d love to participate more in the conversation, but he’s tired and Jisung left him stranded in this situation. Seungmin squints at him. “Hm. We’ll be going! Goodbye, Just Chan, talk to us at any time!” Seungmin drags his talkative friend away. 

The encounter is certainly a learning curve for Chan. Honestly, he thought he’d grown out of the  _ terrible with new people  _ phase of this life. Clearly not everything goes smoothly. Just Chan’s luck that he got hit with zero functionality at this most inopportune time. 

He scans the room for Changbin, only to find him stuck in a conversation with Jisung and Felix. 

What’s  _ not  _ easy is talking to so many people after being relatively isolated on a fucking alien ship for so long. The sheer anxiety and fear that Chan feels when thinking of talking to all these people today makes him want to crawl into a hole and die. Or crawl onto one of the couches and go catatonic. Either would be better than social interaction with 10,000 year old guys from an alien planet and some kind of unruly teenagers from the Garrison. Plus Changbin. 

Chan chooses the next best option. Sitting on the couch and staring listlessly at the floor in hopes that he’d be left alone. Though luck is clearly not on his side, as the couch dips beside him. It feels like a shitty drama, a shitty highschool drama full of fights and tears and sappy romance. Without the romance. And the tears. And the fights. Just the shitty drama.

“Not in the mood to socialise?” A quick peek out of the corner of his eye tells Chan that it’s Woojin, the advisor to prince of this fucking castle. A  _ princely advisor _ . What even is Chan’s life anymore?

“More like not in the mood to embarrass myself.” He shrugs. 

That makes Woojin turn to him full on. “How would you embarrass yourself? You seem very well put together.” 

Chan snorts. “I’m put together. I’m put together as hell. Just not when I’ve been poked at by Garrison med techs, been thrown through space with some kids, and then ended up on a weird planet far from home. All on no sleep.” He regrets it as soon as he says it. This is a guy he doesn’t know well, who could get uncomfortable, and then where would they go? That would be one friendship ruined already, and everything would be awkward, and then they’ll never look each other in the eye and Chan will be mortified forever and ever. 

“That’s fair. I’m sorry you’re having such a hard time.” His companion smiles. “ If you ever need anything, let me know. I’m happy to help.”

Chan smiles. Woojin is nice, a comforting presence. Seeing the advisor interact with his charges, it’s obvious that he cares for them - joking around with them, teasing and being teased, making sure they all eat and get cleaned up. He thinks that maybe getting along with Woojin will be easy. 

He’s still tired though, so he just thanks Woojin and closes his eyes, passing out quickly. 

***

Chan is an idiot. As Hyunjin brings him right into conversation, hes bombarded with questions and information that his overtired brain just can’t comprehend. He may have had a brief nap, but he’s still muddled. Overwhelmed, he stumbles through a few conversations before excusing himself. 

He walks through the door and stands quietly for a moment. His head is pounding wildly, a migraine developing behind his eyes slowly but surely. He spies an alcove a few metres to the left of the lounge door. The perfect hiding place, he thinks. Slumping down against the wall brings relief to his aching legs, and he closes his eyes.

He doesn’t know how long he sits in the hallway for. His watch says two hours but with him being in fucking space on some unknown planet, Chan can’t be too sure. Everything feels muffled outside of Chan’s brain, and he’s certain that he’s gone into some fucked up dissociative state. Just the icing on the metaphorical cake. 

No one leaves the lounge hall while Chan is outside. Well, no one until Hyunjin, at least. Chan vaguely registers the tapping of Hyunjin’s boots as he walks towards where Chan sits. He doesn’t notice Chan, at first, and it makes him feel better until Hyunjin looks down and sees him. 

Then, his heart drops right to his toes. 

Chan is sure there’s dark circles under his eyes, and he probably looks super ruffled and run down, even though he rubbed his face too many times for his skin to be happy. Maybe that did more harm than good.

“Oh! Chan. What are you doing out here? Changbin was looking for you…” His voice trails off. He looks puzzled, and it kind of makes Chan want to laugh. “Are you alright?” He’s squinting, and then he’s crouching down in front of Chan. Chan feels like a little kid, which does nothing to make him feel better.

Chan blinks slowly at the guy in front of him. It takes a moment to process the question, but once he does he nods slowly. “I am… completely fine.” He plasters what he  _ hopes  _ is a cheerful looking smile on his face. Hyunjin doesn’t look convinced. 

“Well. If you’re okay, then Changbin  _ was  _ looking for you before. And there’s something everyone needs to hear. Will you come back now?” Hyunjin’s voice is soft, like he’s coaxing a scared animal. Chan doesn’t know why Hyunjin is talking like that. It isn’t like he’s going to lash out or anything. He’s too nice for that. 

Hyunjin offers Chan a hand. He takes it gratefully. Hyunjin has really, really soft hands. They make their way back to the lounge, silent save for their steady breathing.

As soon as Chan sits on the plush couch, Changbin climbs over to him, draping himself over his back and shoving his face into the juncture between Chan’s shoulder and neck. It should be annoying or frustrating, given that Changbin is pretty much an adult, but instead it’s comforting. Familiar. He pats Changbin’s head lightly. It’s not often that Changbin indulges in physical affection like this.

Chan clears his throat. “Your Highness. What was it you wanted to say?” He looks expectantly at Hyunjin. 

Hyunjin looks awkward for a second, but before he can say anything, alarms start blaring. Changbin grabs onto Chan so hard that his ribs creak. He taps Changbin’s arms repeatedly. “Changbin, can’t breathe!” Changbin lets go quickly. 

“A Galra battleship has set its tracker on us!” Woojin is in front of a console, with some of the others gathered around him. 

“How did they find us?” One of the kids that he spoke to earlier, the one who had babbled away at light speed, questions. Chan thinks his name is Minho, but he’s been so out of it that he isn’t sure if it is.

Jisung pops up from his place on the ground. Like a meerkat. “I have no idea, but I bet it’s Changbin’s fault.” 

Changbin groans in disapproval. “Say whatever you have to say to make yourself feel better, Han Jisung. After getting us stuck on the other side of a wormhole!” He looks incredibly affronted. 

“I’ll stick you in a wormhole!” Jisung’s rebuttal is more than a little bit lacklustre, and Chan finds himself laughing. He sobers quickly.

“Enough, cadets!” Chan’s voice is loud enough to stop all the talking in the room. Changbin shudders. “This is  _ no  _ time for blame. We need to work as a  _ team _ .” He glares at the guilty parties, and both of them wilt. “Woojin, how long until they arrive?” 

Woojin looks thoughtful for a moment. “Looks like around two days, at their speed. Maybe three.”

“Good. Let them come! By the time they get here, you five will have reformed Voltron, and together, we will destroy the Galran empire!” Hyunjin looks very determined for a guy who doesn’t know the whereabouts of the other four lions, Chan thinks. 

Woojin voices Chan’s thought. “Uh, earlier you said we don’t know the whereabouts of the other four lions. We certainly can’t form Voltron with only the Blue Lion, Hyunjin.” 

A couple of people sigh. There’s too many unknown variables in the whole situation for anything to run smoothly. Jisung crawls up to the couch where Jeongin and Felix sit, and lays his head on Felix’s lap. 

Chan rubs his eyes harshly. Great.

***

It takes a while for a game plan to be orchestrated. It takes so long that Felix and Jisung knock out again, this time dragging Jeongin with them. While everyone else chatters away trying to find a way to locate the four missing lions, the three of them are curled up in a ball of limbs and jackets. 

While those three nap, Chan takes the time to centre himself and learn more about the Lions. He looks at everyone, trying to process everything that’s happened. 

Seungmin and Minho are in a pile on the floor. Changbin and Woojin are all huddled close around a console. Someone starts to yell wildly. Woojin stands alone in front of a different console, arms above his head, and is very obviously the source of the loud whooping. 

“I, the great and wonderful, the most talented, Woojin, have figured out how to find those lions.” He has a very self-satisfied smile on his face.

Hyunjin blinks at him. “And how is that, exactly?” 

“Well, there are notes here, presumably left by your mother. They say things along the lines of the lions being directly tied to your life force, or something.” Woojin shrugs. “ _ My precious son holds the key to the lion’s whereabouts, he is the sole link to the continued use of Voltron. _ ” 

Life force. Connected to mechanical lions. It sounds absolutely ridiculous to Chan, but Hyunjin seems to be having some kind of epiphany. 

“Of  _ course _ ! Everyone, come, I know what to do now.” Without waiting, he glides out of the room. The kids scramble up and scurry after him, while everyone else standing begin to walk. The three on the couch, unfortunately still tangled together, take a moment to get their limbs sorted before jogging out to follow the rest of the crew. They all trail after Hyunjin back towards the original room where Hyunjin and Woojin were cryo-d. 

Once they’re all standing in the room, Hyunjin walks towards the middle of the room, where two waist height pillars with blue stones set atop them stand. He places his hands on the stones and closes his eyes. Chan glances at the other people in the room, and sees that the Alteans are doing the same and the others are staring at Hyunjin expectantly. He looks back to Hyunjin. 

A minutes passes and Changbin begins to fidget beside Chan. Suddenly, a blue holographic... Something spreads across the room. Upon closer inspection, it’s a map of the galaxy. 

There’s four coloured spots spread across the map. Black and blue overlap, sitting right next to each other. Yellow is far off in the left corner, while green is situated in the lower middle. They’re obviously coordinates and Chan says as much. “The blue and black lions are in the same location.” 

Hyunjin smiles. “Indeed. That's because the Black Lion is in the castle.” 

“To keep the Black Lion out of the Galra's hands, the Queen locked it in the castle. It can only be freed if the other four lions are here too.” Woojin rocks back and forth on the balls of his feet.

The Prince continues to speak as if Woojin hadn’t said a thing. “As you have found, the lions choose their pilots. It is a mystical bond and cannot be forced. The quintessence of the pilot is mirrored in his lion. Together, they form something greater than science can explain. The Black Lion is the decisive head of Voltron.” As he talks, he navigates the holographic map so that it’s focused on the Black Lion. “It will take a pilot who is a born leader and in control at all times, someone whose men will follow without hesitation. That is why, Chan, you will pilot the Black Lion.” He shifts the map to the Green Lion. Chan gapes at him. “The Green Lion has an inquisitive personality and needs a pilot of intellect and daring. It’s smaller, more agile, able to go where the other Lion’s cannot. Felix, you will pilot the Green Lion. The Blue Lion-”   
  
“Hold up, let me guess. Takes the most handsome slash best pilot of the bunch?” Jisung smirks, tilting his head slightly. He’s met with silence. One of the kids coughs lightly.   
  
The map moves again. “Anyway...the Yellow Lion is caring and kind. Its pilot is one who puts the needs of others above his own. His heart must be mighty. As the leg of Voltron, you will lift the team up and hold them together.” He’s looking at Jeongin as he says this. Jeongin smiles, abashed.

He just keeps talking. It seems like Hyunjin was able to pull a million words from his brain during his small moment of introspection. “The Red Lion is temperamental and the most difficult to master. It's faster and more agile than the others, but also more unstable. Its pilot needs to be someone who relies more on instincts than skill alone. Changbin, you will fly the Red Lion.”   
  
There’s a laugh from Jisung. “Dude, I always knew you were the unstable one out of the four of us.”   
  
Hyunjin pauses. “Unfortunately, I can’t locate the Red Lion's coordinates yet. There must be something wrong with the castle. After 10,000 years, it might need some work.” He laughs awkwardly. 

The dots on the hologram turn into little lions, and move towards each other. A little red lion forms too, and they come together to create the robot that is Voltron. Changbin gasps, which makes Jisung snicker. “Once all the lions are united, you will form Voltron, the most powerful warrior ever known, the Defender of the Universe.” There’s clear pride in Hyunjin’s voice.

But, there’s one thing that Chan feels the need to point out. “That’s great, and all, yes, flying lions, we’ll be in there. Okay. But, how are we going to get  _ to  _ the lions? Will it be a long trip? What do we do?” 

After a moment of thinking, Chan comes up with a vague plan. “We don't have much time. Felix and I will go after the Green Lion. Jisung, you take Jeongin and get the yellow one. Changbin, you stay here. If you locate that Red Lion, go get it.” Jisung groans, and Changbin sighs. Chan crosses his arms, mecha-prosthetic flexing when he does so. 

Not so quietly, one of the kids says, “He’s scary.” 

The tension in the room breaks as Jisung and Changbin burst into a fit of giggles. Jeongin smiles, ruffles Felix’s hair. Felix makes his way over to Chan. “At your service, Leader Chan.” He grins.

Chan sighs. “Anyone coming with Felix and I?” Minho and Seungmin run over, identical bright grins on their faces. “Alright. Let’s get going, then.” He sets his eyes on Woojin, who startles.

“Oh! I'll ready a pod and load in the coordinates so that you can reach the Green Lion.” His smile is blinding. Truly an enthusiastic person. “We can only keep the wormholes that lead to the other lions open for two of your Earth hours, so you'll have to be quick about your work. The good news is that according to my readings, both planets are relatively peaceful. So, if you do get stuck, they could be relaxing places to live out the rest of your lives. Well, enjoy the trip!”

The room fills with protests. It’s going to be a long, long ride.

*** 

The four of them fit very snugly into the little pod that Woojin gives them. It should really only hold two people, but the four of them squeeze in and successfully make their way out of the castle and through the castle-generated wormhole. 

“Chan,” Felix starts, a puzzled expression on his face.

Before Felix can say much, they touch the ground with a jolt. Chan sighs. All he seems to do these days is sigh at teenagers. He snatches up the tracker Woojin gave them and follows the others. It starts beeping as the group keeps walking, the sound reminding Chan of the Voltron Geiger counter Felix made when they were searching for the Blue Lion. That day feels a million miles away, so long ago that he can’t even believe it happened. If it  _ hadn’t  _ of happened, then he wouldn’t be trekking through some alien forest far away from home.

The four of them walk and walk until the trees start to become sparse. They eventually pass by one last plant, before hitting sand. It’s a little beach cove, that extends into a crystalline river. Chan looks at Felix. He looks back at the river, then looks to the right. He spots a small boat, made of wood and obviously hand carved. 

Minho and Seungmin start walking towards the boat. A rustling sound makes Felix turn slowly, to face a giant sloth-looking creature. He promptly flinches and jumps behind Chan. 

The creature moves towards the boat and the kids, beckoning the two humans forward. They share a glance before following, tentatively. 

“I, uh, I think it wants us to get in its canoe?” 

With a shrug, Chan moves forward too. “Then I guess we should go?” When Felix doesn’t reply, Chan stares at him. “Hey, I’ve been locked up by aliens for a year. This is nothing.” Felix concedes, and follows the other three and the sloth-thing onto the canoe. As they all climb on, it rocks precariously, before righting itself. The sloth pushes away from the bank. 

As the canoe makes its way down the river, Chan looks around the area. The forestry is lush, a rich array of greens scattered with bright bursts of yellow and orange and pink. Little yellow creatures pop out of the plantation to stare, and Chan laughs. They’re kind of cute.

An overpass made of rock looms above them. Chan looks up as they pass under. On the front, a carving of a lion is showcased. He nudges Seungmin. “Think we’re going in the right direction?” Seungmin nods. “I wonder if the others are having as good a time as us.”

The group sits in silence for a while. Chan watches as Felix’s face crumples. He tucks his chin into his knees and whines. “What if the Green Lion isn’t actually my lion? What if the Prince was wrong? He’s probably not wrong, he’s a prince, but I’m not even a pilot! I mean, I always wanted to be a pilot, I’ve read all the manuals, but I never got to fly the simulator! I guess I can’t be that worse than Jisung though, he always crashed…” He inhales deeply. “What if I get in there and it doesn’t respond?” His breathing gets heavier. 

“What if I get in there and it’s too big and my feet don’t reach the ground? I’m not that short but Alteans are taller and aren’t the Lions made for Alteans? Or species that aren’t human? What if there aren’t even pedals?!” 

Chan puts a hand on his shoulder. “Felix, it’s okay. Alright, listen. Our commander for the Kerberos mission was one of the most brilliant men I’d ever met.” Felix stops. “And he always said,  _ if you get too worried about what could go wrong, you might miss a chance to do something great _ .” 

Next to him, Seungmin gasps. Chan looks up, and gasps too. A large root formation grows from the river, causing the end of the way. A set of stairs made of stone protrude from the roots. It’s all covered in moss, and it looks like it belongs in some sci-fi film or maybe Lord of the Rings, with the sunlight dappling through the tree canopy. The canoe hits the sand, and the four passengers depart. The sloth-thing waves amiably at them and pushes away from the bank. They turn towards the formation. As they walk forwards, green carvings begin to light up, much like they did when Jisung found the Blue Lion.

Chan watches Felix’s eyes light up. He steps forward, as if in a trance, quickly overtaking them. Felix glances back at the other three, who stopped a few metres back. Chan smiles encouragingly. “Go! Get that Lion.” 

With a wide grin, Felix bolts up the stairs. Chan watches him go, and hopes that everything will go well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/shibecafes) or [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/nezha)!! feel free to ask questions - i'd love to give you answers! 
> 
> i'm going to try and update every sunday or monday aest, but really who knows! 
> 
> kudos and comments make me very happy - i'd appreciate any you'd like to give!! :D 
> 
> \- shibecafe


	3. Part Three; Or, Jisung, Please Calm Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a day late, please forgive me! i'm in the midst of moving houses, which is keeping me pretty busy, so i couldn't finish this chapter until today. hopefully some character exploration will make up for the slightly late update!

“So you’re telling me,” Jisung seethes. “That this is _ not  _ a peaceful planet?” He’s pissed, and rightfully so, he thinks, as they’re being tailgated by angry Galrans. And those Galrans are shooting stupid ass lasers as them, like the assholes they are. Jisung is pissed off, and he’s tired, and Jeongin is anxious behind him which does  _ not  _ help how he feels at all.

His day sucks. 

“Okay, Jeongin, I’m going to get as close to the ground as I can and you’ll have to go and get the Yellow Lion yourself.” Jisung’s statement is met with mild horror, but also determination. Jeongin has always known what he has to do.

By the time the Blue Lion gets to a safe enough distance from the ground to drop Jeongin, there’s a sick kind of anticipation making Jisung ready for a fight.

He wishes Jeongin luck when they get close to the ground, and sends him on his way. The Galra are still chasing him, too close for his comfort, so Jisung circles high over the canyon.  _ Go to the left.  _ Jisung jerks the control left.  _ Press that button, aim and lock on the fighter, then shoot.  _ The fighter goes down in a shower of sparks. Two more fighters replace it, and Jisung curses. 

“For fuck’s sake! This was meant to be a  _ peaceful  _ planet…” Clearly nothing is easy. Or maybe  _ peaceful  _ means something else in Altean. If he had the choice, he’d be back at the Garrison, sitting on his bed and complaining at Felix about studying. But no, he’s stuck in a giant mechanical lion being chased by some stupid aliens. Not his ideal situation. 

An indeterminable amount of time passes before the ground begins to visibly shake, shuddering as if an earthquake had come out of nowhere before the Yellow Lion bursts out of the red stone. Jisung lets out a relieved breath. A set of comm screens pop up to Jisung’s right, showing both Jeongin and Felix’s faces. Jeongin looks panicked, while Felix looks relaxed and happy with his little group of tagalongs. At least everyone is accounted for. Jisung counts his blessings.

A third comm, showing Hyunjin, Changbin and Woojin, joins the others. “Okay, Paladins. Come back to the castle, I can’t keep these wormholes open for much longer.” Hyunjin looks sweaty, eyes bright, but not in a nice way. More in a manic way. It’s not a good look, for someone so undeniably beautiful. 

With his usual loud whooping, Jisung turns and hightails it out of there, the Yellow Lion following closely. They breach atmosphere quickly, Galra still chasing. Fucking obnoxious assholes who don’t know how to give up. Jisung pushes the accelerator as hard as he can, course set straight for the wormhole that Hyunjin had kept open. The distance closes slowly, much slower than Jisung appreciates. 

Finally, the two lions hit the wormhole. Bright light flashes, over in a second, and they’re staring at Arusia again. The Lions shudder as the wormhole slams shut. 

By the time they all get back to the castle courtyard, Felix is already there with Chan and the other two guys that Jisung doesn’t really care about, all sitting in front of the Green Lion. It’s smaller than Jisung expected. With the size of the Yellow and Blue Lions, he expected the Green Lion to be a similar size. It’s not a drastic difference, but it’s noticeable. Fitting for Felix, then. Felix is more suited to a vessel like that - something easier to be agile and speedy in.

Jisung sinks back, relieved that everyone he cares about seems to have gotten back alright. He slips out of the pilot’s seat after powering down the Lion, cracks his back, and trots out of the Lion. 

Once he’s out and standing by the rest of the group, Felix smiles brightly at him. “Did you have a good time?” 

“No! That was a  _ miserable  _ experience and I never want to relive it!” He says drily. “Did  _ you  _ have a good time, Felix? Were you, too, chased by asshole Galra soldiers who shot lasers at you?” 

“At least none of you seem like you were forcibly ejected from a Lion.” Jeongin glares at him. Jisung just shrugs, unrepentant.

“Sounds like you had a rough time.” Chan sounds thoroughly amused. 

More bickering ensues as they wait for everyone else to come down. The weather is warm, but there’s a breeze that smells like the ocean that surrounds the castle. The courtyard is shrouded in greenery and other plant life, the stone pathway they sit on is a smooth creamy marble cobblestone dappled with sunlight filtered through the trees. It’s a really pretty place, and if he were still into photography, Jisung thinks that he’d probably take a lot of photos here.

“Paladins! Well done!” Jisung sighs. Woojin’s unmistakable voice booms through the courtyard, accompanied by the quick tapping of feet down the cobblestones. Woojin does a lot of talking for someone who isn’t in charge of things. To think, Hyunjin is the Prince, and yet Woojin does all the talking. Shocking. The remaining members of the congregation all make their way to the stairs, while Hyunjin stays standing a little distance back.

“Now that you’re all here,” Hyunjin starts. “We can start our search for the last Lion, Changbin’s Red Lion. Those of you that were gone, during your absence we began to scour the Universe. Good and bad news. Woojin?” 

He steps closer, looking kind of uncomfortable. “There’s… one major downside to the location of the Red Lion.” 

“What is it?” It’s Seungmin asking from his spot next to Minho. 

Woojin scratches the back of his neck. “Well. The Red Lion… is in a Galra fortified ship.” Behind Woojin, Changbin stands, looking resigned and more than a little stressed. Of course, Changbin has to go onto a Galra ship to get his stupid Lion. “Good news is that the ship that it’s on is near the planet Arus. Good news again! We’re Arus.”

“Oh my fucking God,” Jisung clears his throat. “Changbin won’t be going to get it alone, right?” Jisung doesn’t care for Changbin much, but they can’t do shit if he perishes in a Galra ship. 

Woojin shakes his head. “No, of course not. That would be too dangerous. The Green Lion would have to go too,” Felix nods, frowning. “Before any of you ask, the Green Lion would have to go because it’s the smallest, and the stealthiest.” 

The thought of sending Felix into a Galra fortified area makes Jisung’s stomach twist and turn into knots, worst case scenarios plaguing his mind. What if he gets captured? He would get killed. Then what would Jisung do? Who even  _ is  _ Jisung without Felix? “If they go, I go.” 

All eyes turn to him. Unexpected, and definitely unwelcome, Jisung doesn’t want such a large group of people staring at him. It gives him the heebie-jeebies. 

Someone clears their throat. “Well. That throws a spanner in the works.” Sounds like Changbin. Jisung fucking hates Changbin.

After a few minutes of quiet, Hyunjin walks over to him. “We can figure out a new plan if you really want to go, Jisung.” 

He’s tempted to back off, say he wasn’t serious, but the sheer distress he feels at the thought of sending his best friend out into a dangerous area makes him sure of his decision. “I want to go.” 

Hyunjin nods. “Alright.” 

And that’s the end of it. Hyunjin and Woojin both walk back into the castle, Seungmin and Minho following them, while Changbin joins Chan and Jeongin a distance away closer to the Yellow Lion, and Felix sits heavily next to Jisung. A thick silence settles over the pair. It’s not quite uncomfortable, but it’s also not a silence Jisung would like to stay enveloped in. 

It doesn’t seem like Felix is going to break the silence any time soon. Why should he feel the need to? Jisung is the one who insisted on going. He should explain himself. “You might need backup, huh?” Felix keeps quiet. “I mean, you’re totally capable of taking care of yourself. One hundred percent. But what if you need me, you know?” He scratches his neck awkwardly. 

He’s glaring at the ground when Felix’s hand rests on his shoulder. “I know.” They sit quietly for a while, Felix leaning on Jisung, listening to Jeongin chattering at the others. 

“Hey.” Jisung nudges Felix, who looks at him sleepily. “After we get back we should, like, explore. Or something. There’s probably some really cool stuff here.” Felix hums lightly, nods, and turns back to the others. Jisung does the same, resting his head on Felix’s, and drifts off to the sound of his best friend's breathing. 

***

“Idiots,” A heavy weight drapes itself over Jisung. “Guys, get up. Wake up.” 

“Mrph?” The weight shifts back, becoming heavier on Jisung. “Jeongin?” 

A triumphant sound follows the acknowledgement, before the weight is completely off Jisung’s back. “Welcome to the land of the living, Jisung.” He blinks up at Jeongin, who is framed by sunlight and looks obnoxiously awake, before rolling over and pushing his face into the warm stone. Stone that is very squishy and feels like denim. Stone that moves.

Stone that may very well not be stone. 

“Han Jisung, get off me, you’re too heavy.” So. The stone  _ isn’t  _ stone, but Felix. After a moment of silence, Jisung feels Felix shifting, before his head starts to slide away from Felix’s leg. He whines. “We have things to  _ do _ , Jisung. Like get the Red Lion?” 

“Don’t remind me.” He rolls away from Felix and stares at the sky. It’s darker than when he went to sleep. He sighs, and gets up. “What’s the plan, then?” 

They spend half an hour going over the plan. They being Changbin, Jisung and Felix, with Hyunjin and Woojin explaining all the minute details. They planned thoroughly, Jisung must admit, accounting for all possible worst case scenarios. When everyone is firm in their places and jobs, Hyunjin claps his hands, and Jisung notices his uniform glittering in the sun. It’s a nice ass uniform. Fancy. Princely. “Alright! We are good to go. Felix and Changbin, into the Green Lion you go. Jisung, to the Blue Lion. We need to get that Lion as quickly as possible.” Felix has already grabbed Changbin’s wrist and dragged him over to the Green Lion before Jisung has even turned to his Lion. 

The alarms in the castle begin to blare, red lights flashing in the hallways. Felix begins panicking. “What does that mean? What is that?” 

“Prince Hyunjin, this is Commander Sendak of the Galra Empire. I come on behalf of Emperor Zarkon, Lord of the Known Universe. I am here to confiscate the lions. Turn them over to me, or I will destroy your planet.” A booming voice echoes from inside the castle. 

“Well, it looks like that Galra ship is here quicker than expected, hmm?” Woojin at least has the right mind to look sheepish. 

Jisung curses. This bad day just keeps getting  _ worse _ . 

*** 

The Galra are the worst fucking creatures in the universe. It’s an easy conclusion Jisung already had before now, and one that is compounded by current events. Current events that happen to put him and his friends in a whole metric fuckton of danger. 

The others are all looking more than a little stressed, which is understandable, honestly. Jisung is just as, if not more, stressed than them. Hyunjin ushers him towards his Lion. “You  need to get out there and help get the Red Lion back.” Right. That’s what they were doing before they were so rudely interrupted by Galra assholes. When Jisung just stands there, Hyunjin shoves him. Jisung leaps into motion, dashing up the ramp and into his cockpit. 

Once Jisung is seated in his chair, the comms flicker to life. He sees the faces of Felix and Changbin, and then the Prince and Jeongin, and it feels like a double edged sword piercing his chest. On one side, he feels soothed by the presence of Jeongin and Felix. But he also feels the distinct pang of anxiety caused by Felix going out into danger. It’s a weird ouroborus of wanting his friend with him all the way and wanting him to stay as far out of danger as possible. 

Hyunjin’s voice breaks Jisung out of his thoughts. “Alright, Paladins. You know the plan. Get that Lion.” Jeongin shoots them a thumbs up before the screen that they were projected on disappears, and Jisung is left with Felix and Changbin. 

“Well. Here we go?” Felix grins at them, and rushes into action. The ground shudders slightly as Felix’s Lion leaps into the air. With a final glance at the comms, Jisung springs into movement too. 

Anxiety crackles in the back of his mind. He pushes away his reservations and hits Felix’s comm line. 

“What’s crackin’, boys? How are we gonna do this?” Putting on a brave face is easy when it comes to Felix. 

Felix startles. “Oh, Jisung! Well. You know the plan. Just follow it!”

He does know the plan. The plan that puts him in danger, but puts Felix and Changbin in even more. Jisung is tasked with distracting the Galra, keeping their eyes off Felix, while Felix sneaks Changbin onto the ship. Changbin then has to scramble towards the Red Lion, retrieve it, and get out safely. Or, as safely as possible. Jisung has a feeling it’s not going to be all that safe at all. 

Felix had mentioned the constant feeling of dread that had settled over him since they first found the Blue Lion, and Jisung is really starting to understand what he meant. The anxiety is making him feel too big for his skin, like he’s pulling apart at the seams, his innermost fears overflowing and filling the room so he can’t breathe. 

But he has to breathe. He has to breathe, and function, and be here to provide any help his best friend may need. 

The Lion beeps, so Jisung corrects his direction and peeks over at the comm screen that shows the bridge of the castle. Hyunjin and Jeongin are glaring at a console. The frustration and stress the pair radiate is palpable, even from so far away. 

Of course, he looks to Felix next. Felix’s determined face hardens Jisung’s resolve, gives him enough of a boost to be able to confidently roll his shoulders back and get on with the mission.

He has some Galra ass to kick.

***

Not everything goes to plan. Jisung is pissed off, and it’s all Changbin’s fault. Everything was smooth sailing until Changbin got thrown into a door –and subsequently got thrown into cold, hard space– and almost fucking died. _ Almost  _ being the keyword, because he didn’t. Changbin is alive and breathing and Jisung doesn’t know how to decide between being relieved or peeved at Changbin’s continued existence. 

After he gets over his bitterness at Changbin’s endangerment of, well,  _ everyone _ , he’s sure he’ll be somewhat glad Changbin is alive. The guy is important to their mission, or whatever. But that’s not now. Now, Jisung is royally pissed off, stressed, and every other fucking emotion that comes with having a near brush with death. His adrenaline is pumping, making him braver and brasher than he’d usually be.

He just wants a fucking break, but apparently that’s too much to ask, so he yells instead. 

“You almost fucking  _ died _ , asshole!” He’s fuming, tugging on his hair and pacing around. Felix moves to touch Jisung, but Chan holds him back with a hand on his shoulder. Jisung is glad. If someone were to touch Jisung in such a keyed up state, he isn’t sure he wouldn’t hit his best friend. “If  _ you die _ , then we’re all fucked! If you die, that’s  _ it _ ! No more Seo Changbin! And if there’s no Seo Changbin, there’s no Voltron, and the lot of us can’t get home! Fuck, you’re such a dick…” Jisung is laughing, but it’s bitter and exhausted, grating on his own nerves.

Changbin runs a hand down his face. He’s obviously just as amped up as Jisung. “I  _ know  _ that! I am very, very aware of my own mortality, Han Jisung. I don’t need you to make me feel worse than I already do.” His words pack no real heat, just the same tiredness that weighs all of them down after the day they’ve had. He may be amped up on adrenaline, but a near death experience surely must suck the energy out of someone.

Regardless, Jisung is gearing up to retort when Chan steps in, face serious. “Okay. You’re both upset. That’s fine. But you both need to calm down before you say something you regret.” 

All of his anger melts away, overshadowed by the gravity of the situation. He sighs. Putting aside his pride, Jisung whacks Changbin’s shoulder lightly. “Sorry.” He feels really immature. Like a kid who’s never learnt to control his emotions. Maybe he  _ is _ that kid.

The red paladin scoffs tiredly. “Yeah. Likewise.” 

It takes a few hours for everyone to settle down after the conflict – both with the Galra and between the two paladins. Hyunjin, Woojin and Chan head to the bridge. Minho and Seungmin disappear down a long hallway, likely to nap or talk or catch up on the past 10,000 years. Jisung decides to rest. Or, rest as well as he can with a whining Lee Felix leaning on him.

“Jisung…” It’s a familiar whine, the same voice Felix uses whenever he wants to be entertained. “I’m really bored.” He’s is nearly completely limp, pushing all his weight onto Jisung’s shoulders. For someone so lithe and slim, Felix is extremely heavy. 

Patting the hands that clutch onto his jacket, Jisung sighs. “I don’t know what to say, Felix. I’m not a walking, talking entertainer all the time.” 

Felix whines pitifully. He slides down from his perch on the couch back to press fully against Jisung’s back. “Ugh, what do I do? I don’t want to get in anyone's way but I’m so bored…” His head is nestled in the juncture between Jisung’s neck and shoulder, breath falling hot and heavy. Jisung shivers. 

Instead of answering right away, Jisung unlatches Felix’s hands from his jacket, turns around to pull Felix until he’s laying down. He rests his head on Felix’s shoulder. “Have a nap with me.” 

The two of them doze comfortably, wrapped up in familiarity. It takes a few minutes, but Jeongin climbs up too, making himself comfortable next to them. Jisung doesn’t know when they’ll get another moment to just bask in each other’s presence, so he makes the most of it and hunkers down.

***

There’s an intense buzzing under Jisung’s skin. His bones feel like they’re expanding, bending, breaking out of his body, red lights flashing and bouncing off the metal expanses of the walls. He’s frantic, eyes shifting from screen to screen, looking for  _ something.  _ Outside his lion, the battle continues to rage. If he weren’t in space, he knows that the blaster fire would be deafening. 

The stars wink distantly far past the fighting. He can see a planet not too far away, and in front of it flies Felix, Galra forces barraging him on all sides. Jisung thinks he’s screaming but his ears are ringing too much to be able to tell. 

He’s frozen, unable to do anything as more and more enemies find their marks on Felix. Time feels like it slows to a snail's pace as another slew of Galra fighters beeline for Felix’s lion. 

As the fighters fire on Felix, Jisung knows he’s screaming. 

***

“Jisung.”

Jisung’s limbs are just as frozen as they were in his dream. He can’t move, and slight panic starts to set in. But unlike his dream, he’s on a plush couch, sandwiched between two warm bodies, with Bang Chan standing over him. 

The last dregs of remaining panic slip away from him as feeling slowly comes back to his limbs, leaving Jisung feeling empty and numb with heavy arms. 

“You okay?” Chan looks a mix of concerned and suspicious. 

Jisung nods as much as he can from his position. With full consciousness comes awareness that his limbs are, in fact, not frozen, but simply wedged under Felix and Jeongin. The position is vaguely reminiscent of post-exam season at the Garrison, he thinks. 

Jisung looks up at Chan. “Help me move them?” He pleads. Chan has the nerve to laugh.

“Nope.” He’s a heartless demon, Jisung thinks bitterly. He’s left with no options other than pushing Felix off, or staying stuck under him. With a sigh, he rolls sideways and dislodges Felix, forcing Felix to shift off the couch and hit the floor. He lands with a loud thud and a lot of indignant sputtering. Jisung feels kind of bad, but just hops up to stretch. He waits a moment for Felix’s inevitable berating to begin. 

“Han Jisung!” Jisung laughs, dream pushed to the back of his mind, and ruffles Felix’s hair. “Stop pushing me off couches.” Felix pouts, hair a mess and eyes still glassy with sleep. 

Jeongin whines, still curled up on the couch. “Can you shut up?” 

“There’s food in the dining hall, if the lot of you want it.” The suggestion of food makes Jeongin and Felix top complaining, eyes fixed on Chan where he looms above them. 

“Food?” Felix says, eyes wide. 

There’s a pondering look on Jeongin’s face, eyebrows drawn and mouth a thin line. “What  _ kind  _ of food?” 

Electing to ignore them entirely, Jisung shrugs and nudges Chan as he walks past. He can vaguely remember where the dining hall is - if he puts all his brain power into remembering. The halls all look the same in this castle; sleek metal walls with columns keeping the vaulted ceiling up, pale blue lights running along the walls and the floors, sliding doors with screens next to each of them. It’s all very reminiscent of a sci-fi film from the 90’s. 

Everything looks the same to Jisung, and eventually he has to admit defeat. He’s gotten himself totally lost. He huffs. Of course, he would get lost. He frowns at his hands as if they’re the ones that betrayed him, not his useless peanut brain. 

“Why does this always happen to  _ me _ ?” 

He’s still staring at his stupid hands when a door slide open to his left, making him jump. Changbin is staring at him, eyebrow raised. “Any reason why you’re standing out here instead of inside, eating?” 

“Huh?” If the dining hall has been next to him for the past ten minutes, Jisung is going to hurl himself out the from door and into the ocean. 

“The hall is right here. Did you get lost?” There’s amusement in Changbin’s voice, and it rubs Jisung the wrong way. 

He’s mildly embarrassed but definitely not willing to tell that to Seo Changbin of all people, so Jisung just scoffs. “No. I was just thinking.” 

“You can do that?” 

“Yes!” Jisung frowns at Changbin. “Move. I’m hungry.” 

Dipping his head, Changbin steps to the side and gestures for Jisung to go in. Jisung doesn’t look back as he walks in. 

The dining hall looks much the same as every other room Jisung has seen in the castle - sprawling and open, high ceilings and light walls. A long table sits in the middle of the room, and a small selection of food is spread out. Half of it is obviously demolished. There’s a light chatter, several conversations happening at once around the table. Felix waves Jisung over to his conversation with Seungmin, one of the Alteans. 

From Jisung’s brief interactions with Seungmin, he seems pretty nice. Pretty cool, for someone from 10,000 years ago, with an interesting sense of humour and a habit of teasing everyone he can. Jisung heard him call Woojin a hag earlier. 

“Jisungie,” Felix pulls Jisung down into the chair beside him. “I was just telling Seungmin about how cool you were when we first met.”

As always, Felix is startlingly earnest. “What do you mean  _ were _ ? Am I not cool anymore?”

“I’ve seen you try to charm people with grease all over your face, Sung. You’re not cool anymore.” Felix snickers as Jisung tries to get him in a headlock. (He fails.) 

Giving up on trying to nerf Felix to hell, Jisung instead focuses on consuming as much food as his body can handle. In the midst of everything, he hadn’t really thought about food. He’d been too caught up trying not to fucking die. But now that he’s sitting in front of lots of (mildly questionable) food, he’s starving. He’s so damn hungry. 

Not caring for decorum, he starts shoving food into his mouth. It tastes pretty good. Not that he’s really thinking about the taste. Felix and Seungmin are still chattering away next to him, and out of the corner of his eye, Jisung can see Jeongin similarly stuffing his face. 

“One would think that neither of you had eaten in weeks.” 

Cheeks full, Jisung glances up at Hyunjin, who sits across from him. He chews slowly, making incredibly awkward eye contact with the prince. He swallows. “I have never eaten before in my life.” 

“Shut up, Jisung.” Childishly, Jisung sticks his tongue out at Changbin. Their back and forth feels natural. 

“Well!” Minho says, clapping his hands together lightly. “Let’s get to know each other properly.” He smiles. 

Felix cracks up. “You sound like a teacher talking to prep students.” Jisung snorts. It’s been a day, a day and a half, and yet Jisung can already feel himself being fond of these new people. Maybe that’s just because he’s been kinda traumatised. Whatever the reason, he’d already risk it all for his friends, and sitting here just makes him feel warm. 

Yeah, being stuck in space somewhere sucks, but he’s got a pretty solid group of people around him, so it’s not  _ all  _ bad. He just has to learn to deal with curveballs like these. They’ll probably get to go home soon, anyway. The Galra may be assholes, but surely they can’t be  _ too  _ hard to beat. 

Wishful thinking has always been Jisung’s way to go. He’d rather try and see the positives in a situation than dwell on the negatives – most of the time. Now is no different. He’s going to keep moving on, keep being with his friends and these strangely kind aliens, and he’s going to keep hoping that he can go home soon. 

“Arus to Jisung?” Chan waves a hand in Jisung’s face. He startles. “You were a million miles away. Want to share with the class what’s on your mind?”

He hesitates, unsure how to say that he was being both mushy and depressing. “What if we don’t get to go home? Back to Earth, I mean. Are we going to have to live the rest of our lives in space? Am I the only one freaking out about this?” 

Chan’s face softens, and Minho makes a sympathetic noise. Felix and Jeongin glance at each other and frown. “Jisung…” Chan pauses. “I know it’s… a lot, being here. We’re all pretty worried about that. You’re not the only one, so don’t think you’re alone in that. You’ve got us, and we’ll get back home at some point.” 

Now, Jisung doesn’t know Chan all that well, but the guy really knows how to soothe a worried heart. Impulsively, Jisung lurches forward and latches onto Chan, arms wrapped tightly around his middle. It’s kind of awkward, since they’re sitting next to each other at a table, but Chan doesn’t seem to have any qualms about hugging Jisung back just as tightly. 

“Aw, you can’t hug without us!” Felix pouts. 

“Go away,” Jisung chokes out, face half pressed against Chan’s shoulder. 

Admittedly, he’s still a bit fucking depressed about this whole situation, but he feels better now. 

A situation is what one makes of it. Jisung resolves to make the most of it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> does anything about this fic make sense? probably not. i'm making it up as i go along. tell me your thoughts in the comments!
> 
> you can find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/shibecafes) or [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/nezha)!! please don't hesitate to dm me or send me a cc if you have any questions you don't want to ask in the comments - i'm nice, i promise! 
> 
> \- shibecafe


	4. Part Four; Or, Changbin Almost Loses It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello.... long time no chapter :3 please forgive me! 
> 
> notes: there's talks about death/near death, so if you don't want read that just dm me on [ twitter](https://twitter.com/shibecafes) and i can summarise the chapter for you! <3
> 
> as always, this is unbeta'd. don't mention any mistakes in the comments or i WILL cry.
> 
> \- shibecafe

Space is different to how Changbin thought it would be. When he was a child, he’d always imagined space as something small - something he could hold in his hand, if he so wished. He’d thought he could just grow a little taller and touch the stars, so close they seemed when he was young. 

Childish hopes of being in the stars were effectively shattered when Changbin started going to school and learnt about the sheer vastness of the universe. Disappointed, but no less enchanted, Changbin had continued to love the stars more than anything else, even his father. 

But now, when he’s alone and floating in space with no real way to save himself, Changbin resents the stars. They don’t seem as beautiful when the possibility of dying looms over his head - his own mortality staring him in the face. 

When he was a child, he never imagined he’d die in space, the place he loves most, but here he is. Absently, he thinks about how he got here. 

***

Hyunjin turns to him, eyes bright. The hologram’s light reflects off the metallic trimmings on his jacket. “The Red Lion is temperamental and the most difficult to master. It's faster and more agile than the others, but also more unstable. Its pilot needs to be someone who relies more on instincts than skill alone. Changbin, you will fly the Red Lion.” Changbin feels… weird at the words. He knows Hyunjin means well, the Prince seems achingly genuine, but being placed as the Red Lion’s pilot with hat description feels… as if his technical skills don’t matter. Normally he wouldn’t care - he knows he’s a good pilot. But given the circumstances, he feels a little fragile.   
  
To his left, there’s a laugh from Jisung. “Dude, I always knew you were the unstable one out of the four of us.” Changbin frowns. Jisung seems immature, petty. But he’s also been through the same shit that Changbin has, so he lets it slide.   
  
After a pause, Hyunjin continues. “Unfortunately, I can’t locate the Red Lion's coordinates yet. There must be something wrong with the castle. After 10,000 years, it might need some work.” He laughs awkwardly. Changbin’s stomach drops. So, everyone’s Lion is easy to find, except his? Just his fucking luck. 

The dots on the hologram turn into little lions, and move towards each other. A little red lion forms too, and they come together to create the robot that is Voltron. Changbin gasps, in awe. Jisung laughs at him. Jisung seems to have some weird thing against Changbin, but he just ignores it. “Once all the lions are united, you will form Voltron, the most powerful warrior ever known, the Defender of the Universe.” Hyunjin sounds proud.

“That’s great, and all, yes, flying lions, we’ll be in there. Okay. But, how are we going to get  _ to  _ the lions? Will it be a long trip? What do we do?” Chan’s voice is as steadfast as it’s always been. He still pauses mid-sentence, still smiles with dimples - Changbin missed him in the year that he was gone. His best friend, his biggest confidant, his brother.

Chan has the same thinking face as always, too. “We don't have much time. Felix and I will go after the Green Lion. Jisung, you take Jeongin and get the yellow one. Changbin, you stay here. If you locate that Red Lion, go get it.” He says. Changbin sighs, back to being bossed around. He’s not that mad about it, though. He’s just glad Chan is here to boss him around again. 

“He’s scary.” Someone whispers. Probably one of the Alteans.

Changbin can’t help but laugh - the idea of anyone finding Chan scary is comical. Chan is a massive softie at heart. Felix sidles up to Chan, eyes a light. “At your service, Leader Chan.” He grins. 

Chan sighs. “Anyone coming with Felix and I?” The two newer Alteans - both of them have  _ min  _ in their names, or something. Changbin can’t really remember. “Alright. Let’s get going, then.” 

They’re all lead out by Woojin, which leaves Changbin alone with Hyunjin. He feels kind of awkward. Hyunjin is a stranger, and a Prince at that, which makes Changbin feel out of place. He’s also startlingly beautiful. Hyunjin walks away, towards the holo screens.

“So,” Changbin says, peering down at the tech closest to him. Lights blink blue, the Altean on each command confounding Changbin no less than it did hours earlier. “How are we going to find the Red Lion, Your Highness?” 

The Prince hums. His voice is kind of raspy, not deep but not high. “We have technology to find it, of course. But I need your help, Changbin.” Intrigued, Changbin makes his way over to where Hyunjin stands. The Prince pulls up the holomap again, but the scope is larger this time. “This is us, this brighter pinpoint-”

“Your Majesty!” Woojin’s voice echoes in the room. His face pops up on a comscreen, startling Changbin by its abrupt appearance. “We need wormholes to send the Paladins through, if you would  _ please _ open one up.” 

With and apologetic glance towards Changbin, Hyunjin swipes the holomap away. A faint whooshing sound follows, and two pillars with smooth blue stones rise up on either side of Hyunjin. He gently rests his hands one the stones and they glow blue. His eyelashes fan out on his cheeks when he shuts his eyes . Changbin watches as something begins to swirl in the sky, a ring of runes spreading out until a whirling mass is high in the sky.

“Holy shit.” Is about as much and Changbin can come up with in response. Hyunjin smirks. The Blue Lion flies over the castle, right toward the wormhole. A pod that resembles the Castle follows not far behind. “Do they… all go through the same wormhole? Or do you need to make another one for Chan and Felix?” 

“Wormholes always take people exactly where they need to be.” Hyunjin’s eyes sparkle. Maybe it’s a prince thing. The wormhole blinks out of existence after a moment. “Okay! Back to our search, hmm, Changbin?” 

***

An alarm goes off, startling Changbin from his conversation with Hyunjin. It doesn’t seem like a danger alarm, but more of a heralding alarm, if such a thing exists.

Woojin claps loudly. “The Paladins are  _ back _ ! We shall greet them. Come, come, you two. I know we have bad news to give them, but give it we must.” Hyunjin shoots Changbin a look, amused by Woojin as always. The three of them make their way through the halls towards the courtyard - Changbin really doesn’t know his way through the halls, so he follows closely behind Hyunjin and Woojin. “Paladins! Well done!” 

Remaining further back, Changbin listens as Hyunjin talks to everyone else. With the sun lighting him up, he looks more princely than he has the whole time Changbin has known him. “Now that you’re all here, we can start our search for the last Lion; Changbin’s Red Lion. Those of you that were gone, during your absence we began to scour the Universe. Good and bad news. Woojin?” 

The uncomfortable look on Woojin’s face makes Changbin feel regretful. He really wishes things weren’t the way they are. “There’s… one major downside to the location of the Red Lion.” 

One of the  _ min _ ’s groans. “What is it?” He looks about as apprehensive as Changbin feels.

Woojin scratches the back of his neck. “Well. The Red Lion… is in a Galra fortified ship.” From behind Woojin, Changbin sighs. He purses his lips. Time for the bad news, he guesses. “Good news is that the ship that it’s on is near the planet Arus. Good news again! We’re Arus.”

“Oh my fucking God,” Jisung clears his throat. Curious, Changbin turns his attention towards the Blue Paladin. “Changbin won’t be going to get it alone, right?” 

There’s an offended look on Woojin’s face as he shakes his head. “No, of course not. That would be too dangerous. The Green Lion would have to go too,” He gestures towards Felix, who nods. Changbin feels bad putting a burden like this on the guy’s shoulders, but he what must be done must be done. “Before any of you ask, the Green Lion would have to go because it’s the smallest, and the stealthiest.” He shoots a pointed look towards Jisung.

“If they go, I go.” Everyone turns to Jisung. Honestly, Changbin is surprised by Jisung’s proclamation. The guy seems too immature to be so… selfless. Or maybe this is Jisung not wanting to be left out of the action.

Changbin clears his throat. “Well. That throws a spanner in the works.” He says.

No one says anything for a while after that. After a few minutes of quiet, Hyunjin walks over to Jisung. “We can figure out a new plan if you really want to go, Jisung.” He places a hand on Jisung’s shoulder. It feels voyeuristic to watch them speak quietly like this, so Changbin looks away. 

Confidently, Jisung says, “I want to go.” 

“Alright.” Hyunjin’s voice is soft. 

***

“In, in, in, in, in!” Felix chants, almost vibrating with - something, maybe anxiety or adrenaline or something completely other. 

Metal screeches from the other side of the Galra battleship when Changbin propels himself into it. Jisung must be causing havoc, as per orders.

As Changbin starts moving forward, the flashing emergency lights blinding him, he feels an odd tug at his body. He puts it down to the fluctuating gravity fields and pushes on. There’s clanking from around the corner - panicked, he slips behind some metal scaffolding as two Sentries march past. His heart is beating a million miles an hour, pounding so fast he’s afraid it’s going to burst right out of his ribcage. When the Sentires pass, he runs as fast as he can towards the next corner. 

His chest heaves with anxiety - pent up energy making itself known by his shaking hands and shuddering breaths. The further he gets into the battleshit the less anxious he feels. Chan would tell him that it’s the adrenaline - and he’d be right, as he so often is. Changbin wishes Chan were here to help him find the Red Lion, instead of being back at the Castle of Lions with the Alteans. 

A door slides open to his left, whooshing by smoothly. 

“Go in there,” Seungmin’s voice is scratchy through the comms, but Changbin hears him loud and clear. He slips into the room, and the door shuts behind him. In his line of sight, the giant Red Lion sits. The metal gleams in the lights that run along the ceiling, giving the Lion an ethereal and unreal look. The red forcefield around it bathes the rest of the room in a sickly red glow.

Too stunned by the majesty of the Lion, Changbin doesn’t see the Sentries aiming for him until it’s too late. A laser arcs off the wall beside him, springing Changbin into action. He dodges the lasers, swearing all the while. 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,  _ fuck _ !” His boots squeak on the cold metal floors as he runs behind large crates, eyes flicking around as he summons his bayard. Unsurprisingly, it’s a large gun, long range but easy to use. Changbin aims it vaguely towards the Sentries and fires. The shot misses wildly, but it hits a crate and explodes, knocking the Sentries down and giving Changbin a chance to bolt over to the Lion. 

He stand beneath it, staring up, jittering in place. “Now would be a great time for you to open up, please!” The Lion remains powered down. Frustrated, Changbin hits the forcefield and spins around to shoot at the Sentries a few more times. “I’m going to fucking die if you don’t open up, you oversized hunk of alien fuckery!” 

Once again, nothing happens. Changbin is at a loss. The forcefield buzzes behind him, a cruel taunt. He feels kind of useless - Hyunjin had warned him that the Red Lion wouldn’t just welcome him like Blue did for Jisung or Yellow did for Jeongin or even Green for Felix. He’d known Red would be reticent before, and now he’s reaping the consequences. 

The Sentries finally gather their wits and charge at Changbin, guns firing all around him. The laser ping off the forcefield, forcing Changbin to activate his shield. 

He panics, running toward the walls to hide his back. He spies airlocks to his left, and an idea pops into his brain. He glances at the Lion, before hitting what he assumes is the airlock release button. The doors fling open, pressure dropping and sucking everything in the cargo room out into the dead of space. The Sentries go flying, and Changbin does too, his bayard being pulled away from him before he can banish it. 

Changbin clutches onto the doorway, but the pressure is too much, and he’s pulled into the vastness of space. 

***

There’s something horrifyingly sobering about staring death in the face - no matter how much Changbin has come to peace with the idea of death, the reality of it hits him like a semi-trailer going a hundred kilometres over the speed limit. 

He’s waiting, waiting for the ball to drop, when something encloses itself around him. Gravity hits him, and he tumbles to the ground, head spinning and vision dotting. His armour presses uncomfortably into his spine - a feeling he’s never been more grateful for. This feeling, it means he’s alive. 

He rests his head back on the floor and heaves out a relieved breath. Things come into focus above him. The red glow on bleaming metal, the sleek interior, the Altean on the walls. It’s clearly the Red Lion, Changbin knows this like he knows his own name, but it doesn’t really click in his brain. Not until he can hear Chan whooping in his ear over the comms, Jeongin yelling about how Changbin killed it, Seungmin’s derisive but still sincere praise. 

His legs feel like jelly, so he crawls across the ground and slumps against the wall to collect his wits. 

So much happened in such a short period of time. Never in a million years did Changbin ever think he would end up in a situation like this. So far from Earth, in a giant alien Lion, after what could probably be classified as a fight for his life. He’s pretty shaken. 

“I’m okay,” He sighs when Jeongin asks him if he’s alright. “I’ll be okay.” 

It takes a moment, but he eventually heaves himself up and into the pilot’s seat. The Lion has taken itself away from the Galra battleship, and Changbin can clearly see the other three Lion’s doing their worst. He’s not sure when Blue and Yellow got here - maybe when he got sucked out the airlock. He shudders at the thought. 

When he looks at the controls, he understands what Jisung meant when he said the Lion was talking to him. While he can’t read any of the Altean, he feels a deep rumble in his bones that tells him what to do, and he trusts it. 

He shakes his head one last time before pushing on the accelerator as hard as he can. The Lion jolts forward at his command, sailing towards the fighting. 

Changbin kind of blacks out before he gets to the fight, going on autopilot and coming to when the Lions are passing through the wormhole that Hyunjin kept open for them. His hands are clutching the controls with white-knuckled grips, and he’s taking in laborious breaths. 

Leaning back makes his spine crack, and he groans. His muscles feel all tense and achy. 

“I could really use a deep tissue massage right about now.” He says into the comms. 

“Me too,” Comes Jeongin’s tired voice. The kid must be beat, if his slow speech is any indicator. Changbin feels the same. He wants to curl up and sleep for a million years. 

Changbin’s Lion beeps and releases some pressure as they breach atmosphere, and any remaining tension in his body releases with it. He sighs deeply. He can see that he’s the last Paladin to be reaching the Castle after everything - far below, he can see Jisung and Jeongin and Felix exiting their Lions, and the Alteans and Chan descending the stairs.  

He blinks furiously as Red touches the ground, much less jarred in the pilot’s seat than he was when he was a standing passenger in the Blue Lion. When Changbin looks outside, he sees that Jeongin is leaning heavily on Chan. His heart hurts a little, seeing the youngest of their little group looking so worn out. From what Changbin has seen from their short time together, the kid is high energy and bouncy most of the time. Seeing him so worn down - he can’t really stand it. 

Reluctantly, he slips out of the pilot’s chair. Everything starts to power down as he walks towards the exit ramp, lights blinking off when he passes. The scent of summery, salty sea air hits him when he walks down the ramp, making Changbin feel like he’s back on Earth. 

“You’re finally here!” Hyunjin claps his hands. 

Before Changbin gets a chance to acknowledge the statement, Jisung starts pacing around. He points an accusatory finger in Changbin’s direction, face furious. “You almost fucking died, asshole!” Changbin watches Chan stop Felix from touching Jisung. “If you die, then we’re all fucked! If you die, that’s it! No more Seo Changbin! And if there’s no Seo Changbin, there’s no Voltron, and the lot of us can’t get home! Fuck, you’re such a dick…” Jisung laugh, a horrible sound that holds no humour. Changbin bristles, frustration at himself and a little bit and Jisung rising to the surface from under his exhaustion.

Running a hand down his face, he levels a tired glare at Jisung. “I know that! I am very, very aware of my own mortality, Han Jisung. I don’t need you to make me feel worse than I already do.” Despite the adrenaline still tugging at the edges of his consciousness, he feels drained; utterly spent by his near death experience. 

“Okay. You’re both upset. That’s fine. But you both need to calm down before you say something you regret.” Chan steps in when Jisung looks like he’s rearing up to say something scathing.Changbin is beyond glad.

The Blue Paladin deflates. “Sorry.” 

“Yeah. Likewise.” Changbin runs a hand through his hair. He waves away the sheepish look on Jisung’s face. “It’s whatever.”

With the tension somewhat broken, everyone split off into groups and head off on their own ways. Chan goes with two of the Alteans, leaving Changbin to his own devices. He doesn’t really feels comfortable with any of the Alteans or any of the humans, so he just elects to explore the castle. 

Minho had shown him to where the sleeping quarters were when the other Paladins were out collecting their Lions, so Changbin goes there first. The architecture of the castle is insane, all high arches and pale walls embedded with glowing lights. Each door has a control pad just bigger than Changbin’s hand.  

The whole hall is lined with the doors, making it feel kind of like a really futuristic hotel. The door slides open with a pneumatic hiss, revealing the comfortable looking quarters. The bed is larger than a single but smaller than a double, covered with plush looking white sheets. A wardrobe is built into the wall, bordered by floating shelves built into the wall. 

The walls are a slightly off white, making the room feel less clinical than the hallways. Changbin slings his jacket onto the bed and sits down. His legs and shoulders ache like hell from being tense for hours. He lays down for just a moment, eyes shuttering. 

Sleep takes him swiftly. 

***

Minho is the one to wake him up from his impromptu nap. “There’s food, if you’re hungry.” He says, already halfway out the door. Changbin doesn’t even have time to wonder how Minho got into the room before his stomach rumbles .

Swiftly, he jumps up and slips back into the hallway, moving towards the dining hall. It’s not very far from the sleeping quarters, so it doesn’t take long for him to get there. Almost everyone is inside when he gets there, only a couple of people missing. 

Woojin ushers him towards the table, encouraging him to dig in. Changbin is grateful. He thinks a few minutes pass before Chan slips out of the room with a muttered, “I’m going to find the others.” 

Too engrossed in his food, Changbin just hums and keeps eating. The food is kind of questionable, but it’s all that Changbin’s got, so he’s fine to make the most of it. 

The Alteans are all laughing together. The sound is nice - joyful, something Changbin doesn’t think he has the capacity to be right now, so far from home. 

Chan enters the hall with Felix and Jeongin in tow, the two younger boys shoving eachother as they walk in. Jisung is nowhere to be seen, making Changbin wary. 

Ten minutes pass without Jisung showing up. Changbin pushes his chair back, heading towards the door. When he opens it, Jisung is standing outside, staring at his hands. Jisung jumps when Jisung clears his throat. Amused, he raises his eyebrow at Jisung. “Any reason why you’re standing out here instead of inside, eating?” 

“Huh?” Jisung stares at him blankly.

“The hall is right here. Did you get lost?” There’s a furrow between Jisung’s brows. 

He scoffs and scowls at Changbin. “No. I was just thinking.” 

Not missing the chance to poke at Jisung’s buttons, he smirks. “You can do that?” 

“Yes!” Jisung frowns harder at Changbin. “Move. I’m hungry.” Changbin bows his head and shifts out of the way, letting Jisung push past. He doesn’t seem to want anything to do with Changbin. Unfortunate, but there’s not a lot Changbin can do to change Jisung’s opinion of him other than be amicable, so he just shrugs and walks back to his seat. 

The conversation jumps from topic to topic, flowing seamlessly. While Changbin isn’t completely comfortable around these strangers (sans Chan, but does he really count when he’s more of a brother to Changbin than anything else?), he doesn’t feel awkward about chiming into the conversation when he has something to say. 

He doesn’t even feel awkward when Jisung gets upset, only feeling sympathy for the guy. 

After all that’s gone on, Changbin thinks he might be able to adjust to this whole situation. 

He’s optimistic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope this makes up for the long ass hiatus i went on.... i had absolutely no inspiration to write this fic at all!!!!! TTTT please be gentle to me. 
> 
> you can contact me on [ twitter](https://twitter.com/shibecafes) or [ curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/nezha)!!! until next time my bros. 
> 
> \- shibecafe

**Author's Note:**

> hope this isn't too terrible, for a repurposed wip! leave me some comments!! 
> 
> you can find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/shibecafes)!!! you can also drop me a [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/nezha) if you have any questions!!!!! <3


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